The Bachelor
by xSadistxFujix
Summary: Being the star of the show 'The Bachelor' meant he had to find a relationship with a girl. Too bad Atobe Keigo is gay, but luckily for him, there is a guy amongst the girls. Only, he doesn't know it yet. Atobe/Jirou, crossdressing, DISCONTINUED
1. The Bachelor

_My new story! I've always wanted to write a story with this theme so I finally have. No need to worry, no Atobe/OC, but I'm sure you all are smart enough to pick up on that. Please enjoy and review!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis nor the tv show **_**The Bachelor. **_**I hardly even watche the latter.**

**-**

**Chapter One- The Bachelor**

* * *

-

The silence was thick between the two of them as they stared unblinkingly at each other. Finally, the younger of the two sighed and looked away, shaking his head. "Ore-sama does not understand why ore-sama must do this." The silver haired man—merely nineteen years old—stated, almost wanting to twitch at the thought at what he was being forced to do.

Sitting down in his chair, the older man eyed his son with little interest and replied, "Keigo, you have escaped from every other attempt to find a woman to marry, but not this one. I have already signed you up and you will do this. Is that clear?"

Atobe Keigo frowned heavily and leaned back in his own seat, wishing he was able to tell his father the exact reason _why _he didn't want to marry a woman. He wasn't interested in any of them for multiple reasons. They wore that disgusting stuff they called make-up, they gossiped, they were nosy, and they had a few parts that he would rather they didn't and they also lacked a certain part of the male anatomy that he was rather fond of, if he said so himself.

But he couldn't tell his father _that_. Oh no, because that would ruin their perfect lives, in their perfect mansion, in their perfect little world where he would grow to take over the Atobe Corporation and marry and have a son who would _then _grow up to take over the Atobe Corporation and marry and have a son and so on and on and on until the end of time.

It all sounded rather boring if you asked him, but Atobe Keigo was quite sure that his father was _not _going to ask him so there was no way he would say it otherwise. "Of course, tou-san," he finally sighed, finger nails lightly tapping at the arm of his chair. "Ore-sama will behave like the Atobe ore-sama is and find an appropriate woman to wed."

His father gave a stiff nod. "Good, Keigo. Now if you'll excuse me," the older man stood and cast his son a last look before almost striding from the room without another word. Atobe closed his eyes with a slightly disbelieving laugh. It was hardly believable, the fact that he had to do something like this to find a _woman_ to marry. It was something desperate and not at all Atobe-like.

But of course all his father cared about was him—Keigo—having an heir and a wife, the perfect image for the perfect family. He wondered though if this was the best way to go about it.

-

The blonde snored quietly on his bed, arms wrapped tightly around his pillow, and a small smile on his face as if he were having a nice dream. And—indeed—it was a nice dream. There were larger arms wrapped around his back while he clutched tightly around the other person's—a man he guessed—neck, a large, happy grin set on his face as he was spun around before he was set carefully down onto the ground and the man swooped towards him, lips attaching to his.

He trailed a hand down his dream man's chest and relaxed into the kiss, smile still fixed firmly to his face. Jirou liked the feel of the lips against his; they were soft and moved against his almost professionally. Not that Jirou would know though, he hadn't actually kissed anyone before despite almost being twenty.

As many people waited for the right person to have their "first times" with, he also waited for the right person to have his "first kiss" with. Why should the first kiss be just as special as the "first time" if not more? The first kiss is what began a relationship, not the first time… unless you were one of those kinds of people, which Jirou definitely wasn't.

A loud knocking interrupted his sleep and Jirou yawned as his dream abruptly stopped. His eyes blearily opened and he glared over at his apartment door through which he could see because of his own bedroom door that was opened.

"Jirou!" the loud voice of his friend Mukahi Gakuto called through the large wooden door and the blonde sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

"Gakuto, he's probably still asleep. Let's not bother him." Another voice said and he fell back onto the bed, eyes closing again, inwardly thanking Oshitari Yuushi—Gakuto's boyfriend.

The loud man huffed. "It's past noon already! He doesn't need to sleep so late, besides, this is important!" the knocking continued. "Jirou! Get up _now_!" Jirou pouted his lips heavily and glared over in the direction of the knocking, knowing that if he cursed, he would be cursing his best friend right that moment.

Jirou stomped over to the door, still rubbing at his eyes and yawning loudly before opening it, and glaring at his redheaded friend. "Gakuto, I was _sleeping_."

Gakuto huffed. "As I said to Yuushi, you don't need to sleep so much!" his friend pushed past him and removed his shoes before walking into his living room and flopping down onto the couch, beginning to pull something from his bag.

Oshitari gave a small, apologetic smile and Jirou opened the door wider, letting Oshitari in to remove his own shoes and follow his boyfriend over to Jirou's couch. The blonde shut the door and flopped down in an arm chair, grabbing the blanket next to him and throwing it over to his snuggled up body, relaxing back into the comfortable piece of furniture. It wasn't as comfortable as he would have _liked_, but that stuff was all too expensive for him.

"Look at this," Gakuto insisted, pushing a magazine into his older friend's hands. Jirou frowned down at it and spun it around to look at the cover, merely blinking when he saw _Atobe Keigo to be the Bachelor on __**The Bachelor**_and a large picture of said person.

Jirou glanced back up at the two people sitting across from him and asked, "So?"

Gakuto bowed his head and sighed in annoyance, as if disappointed for some reason. Dark blue eyes glancing up into curious brown ones, Gakuto responded, "Its Atobe Keigo,"

Jirou merely frowned and shook his head in confusion.

Gakuto whimpered in exasperation. "Jirou! Yuushi and I have told you about him, remember? Atobe Keigo? The two of us went to Hyoutei Gakuen with him? He was a major narcissistic jerk who ended up moving back to Europe after middle school and his family only just moved back a few months ago? Does any of this ring any bells?"

He blinked and then, "Oh! Atobe Keigo! Hai!" he grinned. "I remember! What about him?"

The redhead facepalmed. "He's going to be the bachelor!" he yelled as he pointed to the magazine in Jirou's hand.

Jirou tilted his head and blinked down at the magazine. "Oh…" he looked up at Gakuto. "What about him?"

Gakuto's jaw dropped and he slowly turned towards his slightly amused boyfriend. "Jirou is an idiot, Yuushi."

The "tensai" chuckled. "Well you are being a little bit vague, Gakuto." He pointed out, crossing his legs. "Maybe it would help Jirou-kun if you told him what you were going on about."

"But-but… it's so _simple _Yuushi!" Gakuto exclaimed and Jirou blinked between the two of them, trying to pay attention but all he really wanted to do was go back to sleep.

"Then why don't you explain what is so 'simple'—as you put it—to him, Gakuto?" Oshitari questioned, picking up his book that he had set down on the coffee table and turned to the correct page.

Gakuto huffed and pouted, grumbling slightly. "Oh, fine," the redhead turned to his droopy eyed friend and began so loudly that it startled the blonde awake and he slipped off of the armchair, back splayed over the carpet and legs tangled with his blanket that had somehow managed to stay on the chair. "As I was saying," he stated in slight annoyance as Jirou rubbed at the back of his head and fixed himself back up in his chair with Oshitari's help. "That is Atobe Keigo who is going to be the bachelor and I've come up with an awesome plan!" Gakuto grinned in excitement.

Jirou yawned, blinking his large brown eyes at Gakuto. "Uh-huh," he replied slowly, beginning to feel himself drowsing off but fighting from doing so.

"—and I thought that maybe you could become one of the contestants and make him fall for you and then _bam_!" Jirou was startled back into paying attention by Gakuto's loud noise. "You tell everyone that you are actually _male _and make him feel like a fool for thinking that you liked him and that you were female!" Gakuto bounced in his seat. "Doesn't it sound fun?"

The blonde slowly shook his head. "…no?" Gakuto stopped his bouncing and frowned.

"Why not?" he whined, pouting and crossing his arms.

"Gakuto, that's mean!" Jirou cried loudly. "You shouldn't do that to people no matters how much you don't like them. Nope. Nope. Nope. You shouldn't." he shook his head and stood, picking up his blanket. "Now—if you'll excuse me—I'm going back to bed. I'm tireds and you guys interrupted my nice dream." Jirou pouted heavily himself and started walking back to his room only to trip and nearly fall when something grabbed onto his leg.

"Please?!" the something begged and Jirou looked down to see Gakuto clutching onto him, looking hopelessly up into his face. "Please, Jirou? You're the only one that I can trust to do it correctly and thoroughly! Please?"

Jirou frowned at the look on his friend's face. He knew that he shouldn't, that it was wrong to be so mean, but Gakuto was his friend and maybe he could make it to where he could end up breaking it to Atobe-kun in a nicer way? That was, if he ever even made it to the end…

A small smirk played at his face. "Gakuto," he said sweetly. "I'll tell you what. If you buy me a bed, I'll do it."

Gakuto straightened up. "A bed? That's it? What kind of bed?"

"Will you buy me one?" Gakuto nodded. "Yay! I get to pick the bed, you buy me it. And this is only if I get completely through, if I don't, you buy me a new couch. Kay?"

The redhead stood. "Of course! Let's plan this! It's going to be fun!" Gakuto exclaimed, pulling Jirou to his room to go search for any appropriate clothing that could pass as feminine for the time being.

Oshitari chuckled, eyes hovering over one word in his book. He knew that he wasn't going to regret not telling Gakuto that Atobe was actually _gay_. He glanced up to see a wary blonde watching his clothes fly across the room and laughed again quietly to himself. Jirou-kun was definitely in for a rude awakening.

* * *

Atobe Keigo sighed as he sat on the sofa, eyeing the staff around him to make sure that everything was being handled well. This was one of the Atobe Mansions and he would _not _like it if anything was broken by one of these peasants. In fact, he didn't like the fact that they were even _touching _anything of his.

He heard a loud crash and twitched, closing his eyes tightly. It was only a few months, no more than that, he could handle it. Or, he could try to handle it at least.

"I'm okay!" someone called from the other end of the room and Atobe let out a sharp breath and opened his eyes, quietly saying to himself, "Ore-sama doesn't care if you're okay, you impecile, you just better not have broken anything of ore-sama's."

"Atobe-sama," the heir slowly looked up to find the producer walking towards him and sighed yet again in annoyance. This man was nearly platnium blonde, had an accent and pale skin, obviously a forienger in his presense and yet he was still walking as if he were the king of the world, head held high, nose in the air, and moving towards him in an almost rediculous strut. "We are almost ready to begin."

He shooed the man away with the wave of his hand, saying, "That is fine," Atobe stood and elegantly walked over to the window facing the large drive way, peering out to see if anyone had arrive yet. No one had yet and he inwardly cursed the drivers for not driving _faster_.

"Atobe-sama, you should probably head outside; the first woman will be arriving soon." The host told him quietly and Atobe nodded, knowing that the man was naturally a quiet person until he started reading from his lines.

"Hai, ore-sama will go now," and without casting the host another glance, he walked from his mansion and took in a large breath of fresh air as he stood on the steps where he was _supposed _to stand. He didn't like following directions given to him by a plebian but since it was something as little as standing on the steps, he would do it.

Atobe ignored the cameras pointed at him as he waited silently—if not a bit impatiently. He just wanted these next few montsh to be over with and he sincerely _hoped _that at least one of these girls were decent, because no matter what, he had to walk away with one. But he thought it was rather desperate of these girls to go on a love show to find "love" (probably more like a man with a lot of money, which he had).

Finally—after what seemed forever—the first car pulled up and a butler opened the door. A female stepped out wearing a flowing floral dress and small, two-inch heels. She had shoulder-length auburn hair and bangs that curved around her forehead. Her smile was bright and shining, eyes a dark green. She walked elegantly and gracefully over to him and bowed, pridefully stating her name, "Ikeda Arisa, yoroshiku."

The heir smiled politely and bowed back. "Atobe Keigo,"

Ikeda shot him another sparkling smile before walking into his mansion, Atobe dropped his smile slightly and watched as the next car pulled up and a girl walked out. She had short blonde hair, a mini-skirt with a matching sweater with neat, expensive tennis-shoes. Atobe couldn't tell if either of them was prettier than the other but he guessed it would've been Ikeda, but he could see something in this girl that would probably suit his tastes more—if he was interested in women. Ikeda would be what his parents wanted.

"Tachibana An, yoroshiku." Atobe blinked slightly, recognizing the name for somewhere before introducing himself and gesturing the way towards the door. It went on like this for quite awhile, no one that really caught his eye even a little bit. There had been some giggling fangirls, shy fangirls, foreigners, but nobody of great interest until one of the last contestants.

When the woman began to step out, he could automatically tell that she was both small and short for her age after only seeing a delicate leg exit from the car. His butler held out a hand and the woman took it, smiling brightly up at him as she whispered a quiet "Thank you". Atobe's breath seemed to catch in his throat as he stared at her. The girl was definitely very… beautiful.

She turned back around and looked nervously over at him, slightly wavy blonde hair blowing in the wind. Her brown eyes had only a little gold circling them, drawing his gaze even more so to them. Her lips were glazed in a soft, pink gloss and for some reason Atobe found that he didn't mind the make-up covering her face, it was light and hardly there, which was a nice change.

The girl was wearing a simple outfit, but to Atobe it just made her look even prettier and highlighted her natural looks. She was wearing a white dress that feel just abover her knees, black tights that ended just below them. On the dress was a thin, stitched patern of lavender just at the chest line. At her waist was a lavender bow and what looked to be a lavender daisy. She also wore a long, simple, silver chain, at the end yet another lavender daisy and flip-flops with a lavender daisy on each toe. On her right wrist she wore different colored, bangle bracelets that still matched her outfit, and her left wrist was bare of anything at all.

She bit her lip nervously as she walked up to him, coming to a pause when she reached him. "Akutagawa Koiko, yoroshiku, Atobe-sama." She greeted quietly, a small shake to her voice and Atobe picked up her hand abruptly, laying a soft kiss.

Koiko blushed and took her hand back after a moment. "Atobe Keigo, it is nice to meet you, Akutagawa-san."

There was a small smile on his face as she stuttered slightly and replied, "It's Koiko," before giving him another nervous smile and heading inside.

Atobe waited a moment before glancing over his shoulder, watching the girl walk into his mansion and then turned forward again, wondering what that was about. He had founder Koiko-san attractive, which was odd considering he was _gay _or at least he was pretty sure he was gay. He had never found females to be very… _appealing _whereas males… well, not many of them caught his interest either but they were still a lot more appealing than breasts.

And yet, there was something about that Akutagawa Koiko that he couldn't put his finger on. He would probably have to wait awhile longer to figure out what it was, but he was sure that there would definitely be time. But—then again—she might be absolutely horrible later that night when they had to mingle and try to chat him up to stay for another day. There were nearly fourty women in his house at the moment, twenty would go home, leaving twenty left. And then a few days later, five would go home, and then four, and so on until they got to six and then only one girl at a time would go home.

When the last girl had been introduced to him, Atobe gave a quiet sigh of relief. The very beginning was over and next it would be to talk to them. How he loathed having to do so. Well, he loathed talking to everybody except that one person, for now.

And so, he headed back inside to see what awaited him as _The Bachelor_.


	2. The First Rose

_Don't forget to read and review! _

**Disclaimer: I own neither Prince of Tennis nor The Bachelor. **

**-**

**Chapter Two- The First Rose**

* * *

-

Atobe inwardly sighed as he listened to the girl rattle on about something or other that was unimportant. He already knew that this person—Tomo was it?—was not going to make it through the eliminations that night unless every other person was worse than her. Something which he highly doubted.

He let his eyes wander around the room, first settling on Ikeda Arisa—if he remembered correctly, which he was sure he had. The auburn haired lady was sitting cross-legged on a couch, laughing with a few of the other girls. Even from that distance, he could see a spark in her eye that let him know she was merely sizing up her—for lack of a better word—enemies.

The woman was… attractive, he had to admit, but anybody—male, female, gay, straight, bi, ect—could see that, but to him there was just something lacking (other than the obvious missing parts of the male anatomy), there was just something off about her.

But he figured that it didn't matter much anyways. It wasn't like he was looking to fall in love with one of these "hopeful candidates" after all. All he needed was someone who could keep up the Atobe image and supply him with an heir. That was all that he was going to look for, because it wasn't possible for him to fall in love with one of them if he wasn't even attracted to any of them.

Well, he had to take that back. There was _one _person here whom he found very attractive despite having breasts (however small they seemed to be) and lacking a penis. He glanced over in the girl's direction to see her smiling broadly and laughing with some of the other girls. At least she was getting along with the others, not that he hadn't expected her to. Even if she _had _seemed a little nervous when being introduced to him, he could tell that she was actually a rather cheerful and happy person. His insight never failed him.

But his insight could not—for the life of him—figure out what seemed a bit… different about her. If he thought there was something off about Ikeda, then there was _definitely _something off about this Koiko. And he looked forward to figuring out what it was.

"Atobe-sama," a voice said, walking up to him. The heir looked up to see Ikeda striding gracefully towards him, a pleasant smile on her face. "I was wondering if we might have a chance to talk?"

Glancing over at the person next to him, he nodded and hurriedly stood, giving a polite farewell to the girl and walked off with Ikeda. "Ore-sama thanks you for that. She was getting a bit…"

"Annoying?" Ikeda asked in slight amusement.

Atobe nodded. "Hai, she was indeed. Atobe Keigo and you are Ikeda Arisa if ore-sama remembers correctly, is ore-sama right?"

Ikeda smiled over at him. "Aa, you are. It is very nice to finally meet you, Atobe-sama. I've heard quite a bit about you from my father, he is competition—more or less—of Atobe Corp."

"Ore-sama sees," Atobe stated slowly, now eyeing her with slight interest. He could already see that if his father got to choose, this would probably be the person he would pick for him. But his father was not choosing for him and therefore Atobe would pick whom _he _wanted to, but already he could see that this girl would probably be the best for Atobe image. Although, he had only just met all of them and would have to wait until more time had passed to judge them.

"Ore-sama wishes to know your age," he stated suddenly as the two of them sat down on the couch, ignoring the jealous gazes shooting into Ikeda for getting to talk alone with him. He sighed, the ones acting jealous when they didn't even know him, definitely were not mature enough. Atobe glanced over to the blonde across the room and saw to his delight that the girl was still laughing and _not _acting jealous.

Ikeda followed his gaze before answering, "Nineteen. My birthday is December 13th."

"Ah," Atobe looked back over at the woman next to him. "Only a few months younger than ore-sama."

Ikeda smiled at having his attention turned back to her and crossed her legs, hands neatly placed in her lap. "Hai, and I love being born in winter. The snow is very beautiful, don't you think? I like to ice skate, or rather, ice dance."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "Is there a difference?" he asked seriously, but Ikeda laughed, taking it as a joke.

"Of course there is, ice skating you are just skating on ice, ice dancing is when you dance to music wearing ice skates on ice. It's what they do in the Olympics despite calling it 'ice skating'." Ikeda answered. "Do you play any sports?"

The heir nodded and smirked. "Tennis and ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na."

Ikeda chuckled and shook her head. "Arrogant, I see. I have heard rumors of you being so but I didn't know whether it was true or not, but I guess I should've figured it was from the 'ore-sama', and I don't know anything about tennis. Not my cup of tea."

Atobe went to respond but a voice interrupted him from doing so. "I love tennis! Sugoi, ne? Best sport in the world! It is!" he looked over to see the blonde girl standing and grinning in front of him, eyes sparkling at the mention of the sport.

"You play?" he asked Koiko and the girl nodded, taking the seat on his other side but not sitting as close as Ikeda was to him, which Atobe was thankful for. Although, he didn't think he would mind this girl sitting that close to him.

"I do! Serve and volley," she answered, almost bouncing in her seat and Atobe found it rather… endearing. "I'm not sure how good I am or anything but I beat my friend _all _the time and he's _really _good! He can jump very high and spin in the air and he has this move called 'Moon Volley' and it is very cool!"

He wanted to chuckle at the girl's excitement that filled her words, brown eyes beaming happily. "You play against males a lot, ore-sama takes it."

Koiko blushed and rubbed the back of her neck shyly. Atobe wondered how someone can go from one extreme (bubbly) to another (very shy) in only a few seconds. "Hai, all of my friends are guys so I play tennis with them a lot. But its fun!" she smiled happily again. "And it's also fun getting all that Strawberry Pocky from Gakuto because he bets that he'll win and if he loses he'll get me Pocky and he always loses to me."

Ikeda watched the interaction with a small frown. This girl whose name she had not yet found out was getting more of a reaction from Atobe-sama than she was. It probably had to do with something about the fact that they both enjoyed tennis and she didn't understand a thing about it.

"I'm a singles player, but I think it might be fun to play doubles every once in awhile!" Koiko was saying, excitement still ringing in her voice.

Atobe sniffed slightly. "Ore-sama only plays singles. Ore-sama laughs at the thought of anyone keeping up with ore-sama enough to play doubles with ore-sama."

"Oooh…" Koiko blinked. "So you're good?"

"Of course ore-sama is."

Koiko beamed. "Maybe we can play some time?" She questioned, leaning forward only slightly and Atobe found himself glancing quickly over her barely made-up face. There was a natural glow about her that could light up a dark room, he was sure.

Atobe's lips twitched up slightly. "Ore-sama would love to play with you." He paused after saying that, only then realizing how that sounded. He glanced over at the girl's red face and saw she had realized how it could sound as well. "Uh… ore-sama would like to rephrase that and say that ore-sama would love to play on the court with you." He twitched when her face only got redder. "Play _tennis _on the court with you."

She gave a small nod, glancing awkwardly away, face not losing any of the red it had gained over the last minute or so. After an short, awkward silence, Atobe asked, "How old are you, Koiko-san?"

"It's Koiko," the blonde corrected, looking back over at him. "And I'll turn twenty May 5th."

"Ah," Atobe began in interest. "An older woman." He looked her over again, still wondering how it was possible that he found a _female _attractive. She was rather flat though and he inwardly thanked the fact that she was. As a gay man, he was less than… _fond _of the female attribute called "breasts".

"How old are you?" she questioned curiously and Atobe figured that she hadn't known his birth date.

"Nineteen as well. Ore-sama was born on the 4th of October so ore-sama is five months younger—almost exactly—than yourself." The fact that the girl was older than him somehow just made her seem all the more cute somehow.

"Have you ever done an American style Halloween?" she asked almost randomly and Atobe blinked in slight shock at the sudden change of topics before recovering and answering.

"No, ore-sama has not."

"Never?" Koiko replied, mouth slightly agape. "But it's so much fun! All the candy and the costumes and the candy! I love candy! Sweets are good." She nodded to herself, not noticing all the incredulous gazes on her.

Atobe gave a small laugh. "Ore-sama is not that fond of sweets." He told her truthfully and this time it was Koiko looking incredulous.

"You _don't_? But-but… sweets are so _good_! I mean," she paused. "They're sweets. I like anything with strawberries."

The image of Koiko bringing a strawberry to her lips as she stared up into the clear, blue sky popped into his head, and he inwardly smacked it away. No daydreaming, especially about females.

"What is your favorite type of flower?" Atobe fired off, deciding to go along with random questions.

"Um," Koiko scratched at her head in thought, seemingly not taken aback by the question. "I like a lot of them. They're pretty. But I really like sunflowers!"

"Ore-sama would've thought daisies by your outfit." He smiled and Koiko glanced down. "Oh yeah… I like daisies too." She nodded, smiling again.

They looked rather pretty on her too. "Ore-sama is rather fond of roses," he revealed and Koiko's eyes shone.

"Roses are very pretty! And they mean different things too. I'm not sure what all of them are though, but I know the red rose means love!" she grinned, bouncing again in her seat. "Those ones are my favorite type of rose."

"Ore-sama's also."

"Hello minna-san," the host—Baba Aoi—greeted, smiling at everyone as the room fell silent. "It is just about time for the first rose ceremony so we will leave Atobe-sama to himself for a few moments to let him figure out which twenty of you will stay and who will go home. So please, say your goodbyes to Atobe-sama and you will see him again in a little while. Atobe-sama,"

"Hai," Atobe turned back to Koiko and gave a small smile and nod before standing and moving to say his farewells to the rest of the girls—most of which he didn't even want to go near—before leaving the room and heading up to his own to think about whom he was going to choose. There was already one to stay and she was at the top of his list.

* * *

Jirou sighed as he watched Atobe walk away. Being a girl was harder than he thought it was going to be, but he thought he pulled it off rather well if by the way Atobe was eyeing him was anything to go by. He blushed at the thought. That had been rather awkward, the thoughts and pictures that had entered his mind when they had been talking about tennis. He didn't know whether or not he would ever be able to look at a tennis court the same way again.

The blonde bit his lip and averted his gaze when he saw the auburn haired girl on the other side of the couch staring at him unblinkingly. He wondered what she was thinking of but couldn't bring himself to care all that much.

Soon it would be the first rose ceremony and he really hoped that he would get passed it. He really wanted that new bed! But he also didn't think he would mind getting to know Atobe even more so. Maybe after this was all over they could become friends? But he highly doubted it as he didn't think he was going to respond to well to him actually being male. Jirou could hope though, right?

"What was your name? I don't think I caught it." The other woman asked kindly, scooting a little closer on the couch.

Jirou smiled. "Akutagawa Koiko," to get used to calling himself—and others calling him that—Oshitari and Gakuto had _only _called him "Koiko" for the last month or so (which had gotten him many strange looks while they were in public).

"Ikeda Arisa," the auburn haired woman introduced, bowing slightly where she sat. "That was some… conversation you had with Atobe-sama."

The blonde cocked his head to one side. "Eh? I was just being myself… it wasn't anything that special, I don't think so anyways."

Ikeda raised an eyebrow and Jirou wondered what she was thinking of again. It really wasn't anything very special. They had just talked about tennis and ages and stuff. Not special at all.

But it just wasn't sinking in his mind that Atobe had only responded in interest to his questions and had answered back and asked in kind. This was something that Atobe had not done with the others for lack of interest in what any of them had to say.

"Nothing special?" Ikeda asked with a small smile and laugh. "You two have just met and it's already obvious that he likes you. You are rather pretty though but I guess he also likes your happy personality."

Jirou blushed at the compliment and looked down at his hands, blonde hair hiding his face. Atobe didn't like him. That was definitely impossible. They had only spoken for a few minutes before the heir had to leave! That was hardly enough time to start liking someone. Especially liking someone like him.

"I don't think so," he shook his head, rubbing the back of it as he did so. "Atobe-kun wouldn't like someone like me, would he? Probably someone more like you." Jirou beamed, inwardly frowning at the smile that twitched at Ikeda's lips.

The two of them continued to exchange words every minute or so until the host had come back and announced that it was time and the girls, heading for the gathering place. Jirou smiled shyly over at him as he took his spot almost directly in front of him and glanced at the nineteen roses placed in an open, black box on the table next to him, one rose already in his hand.

Everyone quieted in anticipation as the host began to speak again.

"Welcome, minna-san. The first rose ceremony and I'm sure most—if not all—of you know how this goes. Atobe-sama will give a rose to twenty of you who will move on in the competition for his heart—" Atobe gave an unnoticeable twitch at this. "—and the other twenty who do not get a rose will go home." He gave a comforting smile and then turned to the taller man next to him. "Are you ready, Atobe-sama?"

Atobe didn't spare him a glance. "Hai," the host gave another smile and stepped away and Atobe looked over each of the girl's in turn, deciding to skip the written script of what he was supposed to say. "The first rose…" he glanced over at Jirou. "Ikeda Arisa."

It remained silent as Ikeda grinned and walked up to him, taking the rose in hand and giving the heir a small bow before walking back over to her place, head held even more highly at the fact that she had been chosen first.

"Second rose, Nure Yau." A dark haired woman who's hair fell in long curls over her bare shoulders grinned and walked up to him, long, flowing, brown dress dragging behind her as she took her own rose and gave him a bow before walking over to her spot.

This went on for another few minutes, and as each rose was slowly given away, Jirou got more and more worried that he wasn't going to be picked. But it was for a different reason than was expected. Yes, he did want that bed, but he would also like to get to know Atobe a bit more. He was very… interesting. But maybe that wasn't the right word… he was captivating.

"Tachibana An,"

"Naito Chinatsu,"

"Azuma Wakana,"

Jirou frowned and bowed his head. Only one name to be called and he already knew it wasn't going to be called. Afterall, what were the chances of him being called out of all these other girls for the last rose? It wasn't like he was anything special. It wasn't like Atobe liked him or anything. No, he definitely wasn't going to be call—

"Akutagawa Koiko," Jirou's head snapped up at the sound of his "name" and he blinked his brown eyes owlishly before turning another light red and taking a few small steps forward. He bit his lip and looked up, taking a deep breath and continued on to stand in front of Atobe.

Atobe held out the rose loosely and Jirou grabbed on to it, hand brushing softly against Atobe's. "Arigatou," he said quietly, but loud enough just for his microphones to pick up on it.

The heir smiled, still not yet letting go of the final rose. "Ore-sama's pleasure," he finally let the rose go and Jirou took hold of it, holding it in both hands as he walked back over to his spot, blushing in embarrassment.

"That is it for the first rose ceremony. Ladies who have been picked will be shown to their rooms—two to each—and those who have not I'm afraid will be going back home." The host told them, only a little pity in his voice. "Ladies, this way if you please and we will show you the rooms."

As Jirou walked off following the girls, he kept shooting small glances over his shoulder, turning darker each time Atobe caught his eye—which was every time. There was something about those calculating, blue eyes that he just really liked… and he hoped to see more of them.


	3. The First Night

_You guys know what? Tomorrow (the 10__th__) is my 16__th__ birthday! And you know what I want as a present? A review from all of my awesome readers! That would make me EXTREAMELY happy!!! Please?_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.**

**-**

**Chapter Three- The First Night**

* * *

-

Jirou and Ikeda stared at each other, glancing back and forth between the other and the door in front of them. Well, Ikeda was, Jirou was just waiting for her to hurry up and go in so that he could.

Finally—after what seemed like forever to Jirou but was actual only a minute—Ikeda opened the door and walked in, allowing Jirou to do the same, shutting the door behind him. The blonde blinked as he looked around him, mouth gaping at the sight of the large room. It was probably about as big as his whole apartment and he definitely had a larger one!

"Sugoi…" he breathed, staring at the huge bed off to one side of the room that he felt like running and jumping on, but he managed to control himself to walking over to it and plopping down onto the soft covers and snuggling into the pillows. "Soft! I like this bed!"

Ikeda only stared at him unblinkingly before shaking her head and walking over to her bed for the time being. She should've been a little thankful that she got to room with this other girl, she thought. Maybe she would be able to find out what Atobe saw in her that was even the littlest bit interesting.

Honestly, the girl was an absolute ditz while she was talking to Atobe-sama. Everyone could see that with the way she was giggling and blushing and flirting. It was annoying to watch.

The auburn haired woman glanced over her shoulder to where the other girl was breathing in light, soft breaths. She frowned down at her blankets, thinking that there was no way this girl would get past the final fifteen. She just wasn't the kind of person who could be an Atobe and Atobe-sama would see that soon, she was sure.

When Ikeda had left the room, Jirou's eyes opened and he tugged at the tights ending just below his knees, wishing he could get rid of those already. They were annoying and tight and he wished he could wear his shorts instead of this dress! It was itchy and not as comfortable, even if it was cute.

Jirou yawned and stretched, falling back onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling. He almost couldn't believe that he was here, he had gotten past the first rose of the competition and he was now laying on a big bed that was the most comfortable he had ever lain on! Atobe-kun was so lucky to have such comfortable beds and so many of them…

His eyes shone at the thought of just how _many _beds that Atobe-kun probably had. There was probably more than a dozen in just _this _mansion and Gakuto had told him that Atobe had lots and lots of houses.

The blonde sat back up and hugged his legs to his chest, eyeing his suitcase that his female clothes were packed into. Unlike most of these types of shows, since it was Atobe Keigo and they were staying in his mansion, they had to eat dinner with the heir and he was looking forward to seeing more of this place… but he was just happy to be lying on this bed.

The bathroom door opened and Jirou looked over at Ikeda who paused in the door upon seeing him awake. A second later she closed the door behind her and walked back over to her bed, sitting down and crossing her legs so that she was facing him.

"I had thought you were asleep." Ikeda told him with a small laugh.

Jirou smiled. "I was just resting my eyes. This bed is comfortable and I like sleeping! Dreams are a lot of fun." He nodded and there was a moment of awkward silence.

"So, where do you live?" Ikeda asked in interest.

"Tokyo," the blonde answered. "I've lived there for years and years and years. I did have a roommate—my best friend Gakuto—but he moved out about a year or so ago to move in with his… err…" Jirou paused and eyed her.

Ikeda frowned. "What is it? I don't bite."

The blonde giggled. "He moved in with his boyfriend. They've been dating since middle school so I'm not sure why he didn't move in with him right away. Probably something to do with his boyfriend's family 'cause his already knew about it."

"Ah," Ikeda paused for a moment and then, "I'm from Chiba, I've always lived there. Can't remember when I've not lived there. So you're probably one of the oldest here of the contestants if you're older than Atobe-sama."

Jirou just shrugged. "I don't really think about it. Most people think I'm a little kid until I tell them my age!" he gave another small giggle and grin. "I like the expressions on their faces when I tell them. It's almost as funny as the faces on people when they see my tennis!"

"Is tennis really that cool?"

"Hai!" he answered, sitting up on his knees and placing his hands in front of him. "It's the best sport there is! I play serve and volley and it's fun but sometimes I get hurt because I'm always falling when I volley." He nodded and pouted his glossed lips.

Ikeda stared at him. "I've no clue what you just said."

"Maybe you'll find out some day!" he yawned and glanced around the room. "What time is it?"

She glanced at her watch. "About 6:30." Ikeda answered and Jirou gave another large yawn. "No wonder I'm so tired," he stated, giving a blink. "I've not slept since the limo ride."

Ikeda stood and walked over to her own suitcase, picking it up and setting it on her bed, unzipping it. "What are you doing?" Jirou asked curiously.

"Finding something to wear to dinner. I'm not about to wear to this to dinner after I've worn it all day." As Ikeda took something out of her bag and walked into the bathroom once more, Jirou went back to eyeing his suitcase, wondering about whether or not he should change also. But when he yawned again, he decided that it was too much of a hassle and decided to take a small nap instead. He didn't want to be yawning throughout the dinner, after all.

* * *

Atobe sat at the head seat, waiting for the women to start filing into the room. He sighed and tapped at the table, already knowing exactly what to expect. They would all come in here, awed beyond belief of his house and they would all be wearing different outfits then they were earlier in the day.

He understood why if they had been doing some type of exercise or working out, but they had only been gone about a half an hour to an hour and honestly did not need to change their clothes, make-up, and hair styles just for a dinner that would be over in an hour or so.

And—sure enough—the first few girls walked in, gaping all around them. Atobe gave an internal eye roll and invited them to sit as they waited for the others. The girl that sat in the second seat to his right (there were nametags for he did not want the most annoying sitting next to him) tossed a dark curl over his shoulder lightly and smiled over at him, hoping that he would compliment her outfit.

When he did no such thing and continued to ignore that she even existed, she huffed and pouted, eyes becoming "puppy dog" eyes. Atobe let out a small cough and the other girls laughed silently at the complete fail of getting attention.

He glanced over at the entrance to the dining room and then looked away only to look back over when he realized that Ikeda and Koiko had entered, but it was Koiko who had his attention. Unlike every other female in the room, she had not changed her clothes and still wore the lavender daisy outfit that she had been not long before.

A cute blush warmed her cheeks when she saw the gazes of the other girls and Atobe on her. Not knowing why, Atobe stood and gestured to the seat on his left, causing the girl to blush even further as she slowly walked around the table to slowly take the seat, Ikeda sitting on his other side.

"Sorry that I didn't change, I fell asleep." Koiko told him, shifting underneath his gaze.

Atobe gave a small laugh and waved off the apology. "No need to be sorry, ore-sama is fine with it. You look nice, Koiko." Koiko lowered in her seat, face now as read as a beet as the other girls shot her jealous looks, especially the one who had been trying to get Atobe's attention just a minute or so earlier.

"A—arigatou, Atobe-kun…" she told him quietly, golden hair hiding her blushing face. "I don't think I look that good though. It's just a simple dress."

"And it suites you," Atobe continued to tell her, not knowing exactly why he was saying what he was saying. "Ore-sama says you look nice, so you look nice. The appropriate thing would be to accept it the compliment that ore-sama gives you."

Koiko looked up and frowned over at him, sitting up in her chair. "Hai… Atobe-sama," Atobe frowned slightly himself at her tone, wondering what he had said that had been so wrong that she was giving him such a look.

Turning away from the blonde girl, he looked at everyone else, giving a polite smile as he said, "Ore-sama would like to welcome you into my home," _and ore-sama would like for you all to get out now… well, maybe not _you. "And ore-sama wishes for you to enjoy your dinner. Itadaikimasu,"

"Itadaikimasu,"

Atobe watched as Koiko finally noticed all the food set out over the table, brown eyes sparkling slightly as she watched the others help themselves before eagerly making her own plate. Atobe hid a quiet chuckle, not being able to help thinking how cute this girl seemed. She was definitely a _good _kind of different.

"Atobe-sama, I heard that you moved here from Europe. Where did you live in Europe before?" one of the girls asked curiously and Atobe _wanted _to say that it was honestly none of her business but knew that the whole objective to this was to get to know these girls and have one of them become his wife no matter how much he _despised _the idea.

"England," he answered and watched in amusement when he saw how some of them seemed to have trouble holding a fork and knife. He idly wondered whether they had ever used them before. He glanced over at Koiko and saw to his liking that Koiko was having no trouble whatsoever, but a part of him said that he would _not _have minded having to teach her how.

"Does it really rain a lot there?" the blonde asked in curiosity. "I think that would be horrible! I like the sun beaming down on me." Koiko closed her eyes and smiled happily. "It makes me happy while the rain makes me sad." She nodded and reopened them, looking seriously at the man next to her. "Does rain make you think of someone crying? It does for me, and also, rain isn't a good weather to play tennis in!"

A few of the girls looked slightly puzzled at why she had suddenly brought up tennis but another blonde on the other side of the table said, "I think so also, I've had to play tennis in the rain because my brother was training his team when it began to rain one day near the time for nationals and they wouldn't stop so of course I wouldn't."

Atobe stared at her for a second. "… Tachibana An… you're brother, wasn't he captain of Fudomine back in middle school."

An smiled, an almost sarcastic twinge to it. "Yes he was, so glad you remembered."

He twitched. "He beat our Shishido, of course ore-sama remembers." He huffed. "Ore-sama would not expect _you _to be here. Weren't you the one who had both Seigaku's Momoshiro and your Kamio pining after you?"

This time the blonde gave a giggle with a real smile. "Kamio is now dating Shinji-kun and Momo is dating that Echizen. Besides, my mother signed me up without me knowing."

Atobe twitched a second time. "The Echizen brat?" there was a distant echo of "Monkey King" in the back of his mind and he frowned. Damn those reminders of being bald.

"I knew it all along of course. It was completely obvious." An stated, taking another bite of her meal. "He had a crush on me probably but he was completely in love with Echizen-kun. Kamio-kun was just a _very _protective older brother like figure."

Ikeda frowned. "You two know each other?"

An laughed. "Sort of, but Monkey King is definitely _not _my favorite person in the world." Atobe closed his eyes and gave a tight smile as a giggle came from his left.

"Monkey King?" Koiko laughed, grinning as she held her cup in her hand. "I like that nickname! Atobe-kun, can I call you Monkey King?"

"No, you may not," Atobe told her firmly, shooting looks towards the other snickering women around him. "Ore-sama hates that name and wishes to never hear of it again."

Koiko grinned. "That's kinda the reason I want to call you that, Atobe-kun, but if I can't call you that, then I'll call you…" she paused for a second. "Kei-chan! Is that better, Kei-chan?" her brown eyes widened innocently and Atobe found himself unable to look away.

"We'll see," Atobe said finally, forcing himself to look away from the older woman. He didn't like the thought of being called either of those names, but for some reason, if he had to let someone call him a name, he thought he would mind least letting Koiko call him "Kei-chan". It seemed to fit her personality completely and she seemed too adorable to say no to.

That in itself was an odd thought. He was _gay_, or at least he was pretty sure that he was. After all, as he continually points out to himself, there was nothing in the least bit attractive about lumps of flesh that only had the practical purpose of feeding children who had just exited the womb. He preferred hard flesh (of both the chest area and lower) to soft, squishy, meaty areas that didn't do anything for him. Although, he thought as he glanced over Koiko, she didn't seem to have "lumps of flesh", thankfully. He could do without even more of those around him.

"Why did you move back here?" one girl questioned, leaning forward to see him better.

"Ore-sama has always preferred Japan, even if ore-sama does prefer western style food a bit more. At least, some of it." Atobe answered, eating said western styled food.

"I take it that you lived here before, Atobe-sama?" Ikeda added to the conversation, unasked question in her voice.

"Yes, ore-sama attended Hyoutei Gakuen during middle school and was buchou to the tennis club." Atobe replied once more, growing tired of all the boring questions.

"My friend Gakuto went to Hyoutei. He was in the tennis club." Koiko said nodding, almost as if she hadn't thought before speaking.

Atobe raised a curious eyebrow. "Ahn?" Koiko paused, fork cutely placed to her mouth. The blonde averted her brown eyes and Atobe listened as she gave a small nervous whimper. "Gakuto? You aren't talking about Mukahi Gakuto, are you?"

There was silence as Koiko turned back to Atobe. "Uh… hai… we grew up knowing each other so we talked every so often."

The heir stared at her. "You are not—by any chance—related to this… Akutagawa Jirou, are you?"

Koiko blinked. "Um… why?" she asked nervously, eyes darting around the room so as to not to make eye contact with him.

"Because he sounds very annoying by the way Mukahi went on about him. Always going "sugoi, ne" and sleeping in the most open spots. Ore-sama would hate to have to deal with him."

The girl gave a forced sounding laugh. "Is that so?... he's my brother."

"Ah, well, tell your brother that ore-sama did not like how Mukahi went on and on about him. It got very annoying very fast."

She sighed. "Hai, Atobe-kun."

* * *

As Jirou lay in his momentary-bed, he thought about the dinner they had had that evening and thought of what Atobe would've thought had he knew that he actually _was _Akutagawa Jirou and not Akutagawa Koiko like he thought. Of course, he would either find this out at the end of everything or never, and he was beginning to really prefer "never" despite the fact that if he made it to the end of this, he would get a new bed.

Either way he would get a new couch and he was more than sure that even sleeping on this bed for a few days could compensate for the fact that he wouldn't be getting a new bed. Nothing could ever measure up to this one, that was for sure.

What he didn't understand though was why he felt a bit down-heartened that Atobe found _him _annoying just by thinking of what Gakuto had rambled off about him. He wasn't that bad, was he? Yeah, he did get a little excited sometimes, but who didn't? And he also loved to sleep, but who doesn't? Sleeping was fun and relaxing and refreshing and your body needed it. It also gave you nice dreams—at least most of the time.

Like that nice dream of him being spun around and kissed so passionately that he felt as if he had actually been kissed like that, even if he didn't know what an actual kiss felt like. He hoped that someday though, he _would _be kissed like that, and as his eyes closed and slumber welcomed him, a small part of his mind told him that he really hoped it would be Atobe kissing him like that.


	4. The First Event

_Enjoy! ^_^ Please read and review! It was my birthday yesterday. Think of it as a late gift! Lol_

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**-**

**Chapter Four- The First Event**

* * *

-

"Where is Atobe-kun?" Jirou asked the host in interest when he came in, wondering why he wanted to know at all. The other girls turned in interest to the host, waiting for a response from him in answer.

Baba Aoi smiled politely. "Sadly, Atobe-san could not be here this morning. He got a call and had to head to the office to do something for Atobe Corp, but rest assured that he will be back later today and you will see him later tonight."

Jirou stared at him for a moment before nodding and continuing to eat. It made him sad that he wouldn't get to see Atobe-kun until later that night, but he would just have to deal with it. Atobe-kun had to take care of business; that was definitely more important than spending time with someone that he had just met.

Nure Yau frowned slightly. "We don't get to see Atobe-sama? How sad."

"Being in charge of a whole corporation is very difficult." Ikeda responded to the girl next to her. "I'm merely surprised that he can afford to take as much time off as he is just for something like this and I wonder why he is anyways." The auburn haired woman frowned in thought, truthfully not knowing why.

"For love, of course." A red haired woman by the name of Naito Chinatsu answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Jirou just stared at them all, especially the ones who had nodded in agreement. Were they stupid or what? "I thought it was obvious," he said quietly, gaining glances in his directions. "Wouldn't Atobe-kun need an heir to take over from him? I mean, it's not like it's hard for him to get dates, I'm sure. I bet that many girls—and guys—would line up for a chance to go on a date with him, and if he wanted love, he would just take out one of them, right? But this is a faster way of getting to know many people and having many girls to choose from, and so far he doesn't seem to be romantically interested in anybody. In fact, to me he seems as if he couldn't wait to get out of here. And he's asking everyone formal questions. I think he's just looking for the appropriate wife to keep up the name of the Atobe family and give him an heir. At least, that's what makes the most sense to me."

There was silence as everyone stared at him before they turned to each other and continued to talk. He shrugged to himself, not noticing the thoughtful gaze that Ikeda was sending him and the small smile that grew on the host's face.

"Today," Baba began and everyone turned towards him, now paying attention. "You will all be given some money and get to go shopping. Now, you can buy whatever it is that you want as _long _as you are able to show it tonight to Atobe-san. So that means nothing that has to be delivered. Okay?" everyone nodded. "Any questions?"

"Um, yes, what is the point of this?" one girl asked politely in confusion, setting down her napkin next to her plate.

Baba gave another smile. "Just a treat. You will be given 89250 Yen ($1000) to spend, now spend wisely."

The girls looked at each other in slight shock. "That's a lot of money to give away to twenty girls…" someone said.

"It's probably pocket change to Atobe," Ikeda and Jirou stared at each other as they both said the same thing, ignoring the slightly amused glances being sent their way.

"Now, you may leave as soon as you're done eating but make sure that you're back by five or you will not get to keep whatever it is that you buy." _Or you'll be disqualified from getting a chance to go on the date with him. _

At this, Ikeda raised her head slightly higher, as if realizing something. "Well then, I'll make sure to get back by five o'clock." Jirou stared at her as she looked down at her plate with a small smile and he silently promised himself that he would also.

"That is it for now, and off you go."

* * *

Jirou stared at the many shops around him, wondering where he should go. It's not like he wanted to buy dress or jewelry, because—despite being dressed as a girl at the current time—he was _not _a girl and was more than happy to wear some type of t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes.

He flinched and averted his eyes after accidently staring directly at the sun's rays and decided that looking _up _was definitely not the best place to look unless he wanted to go blind. Which, he didn't. Didn't people's eyes that go blind become pale? He rather liked his brown eyes and didn't want them to be white, that freaked him out a little bit.

Spotting a store just across from him, he leaned forward and squinted his eyes, grinning and standing up straight when he spotted _Pocky _in the window. Waiting for a chance to cross, he walked over to the store and inside, smiling as he eyed the rows of delicious sweets and yummy _Pocky_.

He gave the man behind the corner a small bow and wave before walking down the aisle, almost drooling at the sight of all the candy. "Oishii…" he breathed, blinking his brown eyes and grabbing one of the boxes of Strawberry Pocky. Jirou bit his lip and eyed the box before smiling slightly and grabbing a few more. That ought to last him a day or two.

Almost skipping up to the register, he smiled brightly and paid the correct amount before leaving the store, opening a box and placing one of the sticks inside of his mouth, happily walking down the street. He had bought what he wanted, but it wouldn't hurt to see if there was anything else like… a pillow!

The blonde came to a halt in front of the store, gaping his mouth so that the Pocky stick fell from it. He pouted as he gave it a small glare before stepping closer to the window, curiously eyeing all the pretty looking pillows.

He bit his lip and glanced down at his pocket before nodding. Yup, he would get another pillow because one could never have too many of them!

Walking excitedly into the store, he automatically walked over to a shelf full of pillows and poked delicately at one, frowning when it felt a little rough beneath his finger. He bent down and examined another one, shaking his head at all of the ruffles.

The blonde peered at another pillow and ran his hand over it, pushing slightly and decided that it was a bit too hard. He wanted a comfy pillow, not a hard one, that was for sure.

He scratched at his head and frowned a few minutes later. This was harder than he thought it would be. So many pillows that he liked and so many that he didn't. It was difficult to choose from. Glancing around the store, he spotted an area of bright pillows in all different colors and grinned, almost bouncing over to them.

"Ooh," Jirou blinked as he stared into a basket of water pillows and he wondered if one had ever popped while someone was using it to lay on. He giggled as a girl soaked to the bone popped to the forefront of his mind, her eyeliner smeared down her cheeks and blonde hair drenched and flat against her head as she held up a plastic, purple, waterless water-pillow.

Turning his gaze away from the water pillows he walked over to fluffier ones and ran his hand down a soft, bright green pillow. It felt nice to the touch and he picked it up, holding it to his chest before his eyes widened and he placed the pillow back on the rack and nearly ran over towards the other shelf, grabbing a three-foot long, orange pillow. The front side of it was furry and bright just as the green pillow had been, and the back of it was a dark red silk, smooth to the touch.

He hugged it to him and snuggled slightly into it, knowing that this was definitely the pillow for him. Two different pillows in one! That sounded very nice.

Walking once more up to the register, he paid for the pillow and left the store, keeping the large orange pillow hugged to his chest, not minding the looks being shot towards him—or rather, he didn't notice them.

Jirou came to a halt and stared curiously at the sight of the rainbow shooting across the walk in front of him. He blinked and smiled, looking up and over into the window shop next to him, gasping slightly when he saw what looked to be either glass or crystals hanging all throughout the shop, rainbows beaming off of them. He took a step closer and eyed them; quietly deciding that he must have one of these that made pretty rainbows appear everywhere.

Hesitantly stepping into the shop, a small _ding _filled the room, and an aging, wrinkled man smiled kindly and walked over to him, asking if he could help him (or rather, her).

"Hmm," Jirou looked around and nodded. "Aa, I've never seen these before. What are they called?"

The man gave another smile and walked over to the window, Jirou following him. "They're called prisms."

"How are they creating rainbows?" he questioned eagerly, not looking away from the glass. "I thought they only appeared after rainstorms."

He chuckled. "No, that is just when they are most commonly seen, but even those are rare, are they not? No, a rainbow is merely a reflection of light, but still very nice too look at all the same. Are you interested in buying one?"

Jirou nodded and looked around him. "I want more than one, but I'm walking and I don't want to drop them…" the blonde pouted as he peered wistfully at all the rainbows and the man nodded him over to the back of the store, and over to the counter.

"Come here, I'll let you buy a box of them for the price of only three. So ten for 2678 Yen ($30). They'll be in a box and I'll give you a bag, so only if you somehow drop the bag will they break, but I'll be extra nice and put some stuff around it." He winked and Jirou giggled as he disappeared to the back of the store.

The blonde glanced around in interest, eyeing all the antique looking jewelry and mirrors, along with the other prisms. Even if he wasn't a girl, he could tell that a lot of that jewelry was rather amazing. In particular, a large, antique, butterfly hair ornament caught his interest, and he found himself almost wishing he had longer hair and was a girl so that he could buy and use it, _almost_.

He spotted a mirror that looked rather old, the reflective part of the mirror looking a little frayed as all he saw was glass instead of actual mirror. The handle and frame was also rather frail looking, a worn green that looked to be fading to a silver-gray color.

Jirou glanced away when the man came back, holding a forest-green box with white words spelling "Rainbow Prisms" across the front. "Here you are," he set it down on the counter. "2678 Yen,"

The blonde paid the correct amount and eagerly took the bag with his box of prisms and wished a happy day to the man before leaving and heading in the direction towards Atobe-kun's mansion. Others would probably think he had bought useless stuff, but he didn't think so. All the others had probably spent most if not all of their money on dresses and jewelry while he had bought something he could sleep on, something he could eat, and something for mere pleasurable leisure and he hadn't even spent 8925 Yen.

When he got back to his and Ikeda's room, he glanced over at the clock and saw that it wasn't even two yet. Smiling, he set down his Pocky and tucked away his prisms before throwing his pillow onto the bed before jumping on himself, deciding that there was definitely more than enough time to take a nap.

* * *

Atobe glanced down at his watch, there was three minutes until it was five o'clock. He looked at the seat next to him, frowning at the empty chair. If Koiko didn't hurry, she would be disqualified from getting a chance to go on this date.

Well, it wasn't like Atobe was _hoping _for her to get there on time or anything, but… okay, he was hoping she would get there and that she had bought anything completely useless or used every last bit of the money she had been supplied. He also hoped that she had realized that this had been a task, competition, whatever you want to call it, although, Koiko so far didn't seem the brightest of the group, there was still just something about her that he couldn't put his finger on.

The heir glanced back down at his watch and saw that there was only two minutes left until the deadline. He looked around and frowned when he saw most of the women there (including Ikeda and Tachibana) but they weren't the person _he _wanted there.

He could care less about everyone else, he just wanted Koiko to make it in time so that he wouldn't be _completely _bored out of his mind on this three-on-one date.

Just as his watch showed one minute, he heard running coming from the hall and everyone looked curiously at the door as a blonde burst into the room, chest heaving and a red flush to her face.

Atobe smiled slightly. "Just in time Koiko," he told her as his watch and the clock on the way ticked _Five O'clock_.

Koiko bowed her head slightly. "Gomen, I…" she blushed. "Fell asleep."

There were a few snickers from some of the girls and Atobe cast them slightly cold glances before gesturing to the seat next to him. Koiko bit her lip and hesitantly walked over and sat in her regular seat as Atobe said, "That is fine Koiko-san, we all fall asleep at times."

"Hai," Koiko replied and Atobe nodded to the man at the door who proceeded to lock the door and exit the room through another entrance.

The host entered through the same door the other man had exited from and gave them all a charming smile, dark hair brushed neatly against his head. "You all have brought what you bought or are wearing it, correct?" the girls nodded. "Good, now, as I'm sure many of you have surmised, this was your first task." Some of the women glanced at each other, looks on their faces saying that they had clearly _not _known that. "We do not want any girls who are just using Atobe-san for money, after all. Now, if you would all please—one by one—show us what you bought, we can determine who will be going on the date with Atobe-san, three of you will be doing so."

"I merely went out to lunch," Ikeda smiled, waving the receipt slightly that she held in her hand.

"I went to go play street tennis… after I fixed my racket." An mumbled something about stupid people not being careful.

The rest of the girls showed off what they had bought, many of them having bought dresses, clothes, or jewelry. He sighed at the predictability of it all but curiously looked over at an empty-handed Koiko when it was her turn.

"Did you buy anything, Akutagawa-san?" Koiko blinked up at the host before bending down and digging through the bag next to her.

"Hai!" she answered, setting a few boxes of something on the table. "I got some Strawberry Pocky and I got _this_!" she grinned and pulled out something large and orange, hugging it to her chest. "It's a big pillow and it's very comfy! I like it. On this side it's orange and furry and on this side—" she turned it over. "—it's red and silky. So I get two pillows for the price of one it seems like!" she giggled.

Atobe watched her in slight amusement as she hugged and snuggled into the stuffed material. "Did you buy anything else, Koiko?"

"Oh, yes, I did!" she set the pillow on her lap and picked up the bag, setting it onto the table also and took out a forest-green box, removing the cover and pulled out something that looked somewhat like a crystal. "I bought these. The man said they're called prisms and they make rainbows when held to the sunlight. It's very pretty." Koiko bounced from her chair and ran over to the curtains, pushing them open as she set the box on the ground. Kneeling next to them, she took one prism and held it to the sunlight, rainbows shooting across the room as she did so.

The heir eyed them and smiled over at the girl's excited face. "It does look rather nice. Maybe ore-sama shall have them hung up."

Koiko grinned. "Hontoni?"

"Hai," he nodded and thought for a moment. "In the sun room."

The blonde squealed and ran over to him, surprising everyone—including him—when she wrapped her arms tightly around him, hugging him in thanks. "That'll be so pretty! Thank you Atobe-kun!" The heir fought off a small blush as Koiko let go of him and kneeled back in front of her box, placing the prism with the others.

Atobe glanced over his shoulder before quickly looking away, shifting a bit uncomfortably at the sight of the older woman's backside and he had to admit, she _did _have a rather nice ass, even if she _was _a girl.

The host continued to smile as Koiko sat down and said, "Atobe-san will announce who will be going on the date with him tomorrow when you finish dinner. For now, enjoy and good luck."


	5. The First Date

_Please read and review!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**-**

**Chapter Five- The First Date**

* * *

-

"Eh? But she bought things she doesn't even need any of that stuff!" one girl exclaimed incredulously, shooting glares at a blushing Koiko.

Atobe twitched. "And buying a 26775 Yen dress was something _you _needed, was it?" The woman flushed angrily and crossed her arms, huffing, looking as if she was about to start stomping away any minute and Atobe knew that this was one of the girls that would not make it past the next Rose Ceremony.

Koiko smiled slightly over at him and nodded, Atobe nodded back before looking away to the others. "That is all for the rest of you, ore-sama wishes to speak to these three alone for a moment." The others sighed dejectedly and walked away, some of them casting hopeful looks over their shoulders, wishing that they would catch Atobe's eyes lingering on them, but they were sadly let down, for Atobe's eyes were locked to one particular person for the moment.

The heir forced himself to look away from Koiko and also at the other two. "You three will be going on a date with ore-sama tomorrow. At the end of the date, ore-sama will pull one of you aside to have some time alone and that person will get an automatic rose for the next ceremony."

Koiko straightened up just the slightest bit and asked, "Where're we going?"

Atobe looked over at her. "To lunch, so make sure that you three are ready by eleven o'clock. If you are late, you will not be going on the date. Is that understood?"

"Hai," the three of them answered in succession, Koiko smiling happily over at the man, hands clasped cutely behind her back.

Atobe shook his head. No, not _cutely _behind her back. There was nothing _cute _about Koiko. She was only an almost twenty year old blonde woman who acted like a sugar-high child. Nope, nothing cute about that at all. And—even if there was—he wouldn't be affected because he didn't like _cute_.

_Well, _he thought as his eyes quickly darted across Koiko's body, _maybe there is an exception for everything._

"You three may go," he told them and the girls said their farewells before heading upstairs, only Koiko continuously glancing over his shoulder and smiling at him, the pink tinge across her cheeks darkening every time she saw Atobe watching her—which was _every _time.

He found himself eagerly looking forward to the next day, at least, a part of it anyways.

* * *

As Jirou lay in bed that night, eyes closed and mind drifting off, a certain silver-haired man continued to enter his thoughts, refusing to leave. Not that he wanted him to leave, he was rather handsome after all and gave him very nice thoughts indeed.

He snuggled into his knew pillow, the red, silk side face up, blond hair splayed over it. When his mind completely fell into sleep, a familiar dream entered his mind, and his lips tugged up into a happy, content smile. He was being spun around as he held onto another man and then he was set back down onto the floor and the man swooped down, capturing his lips in a heated, passion filled kiss.

Jirou giggled when the man nuzzled at his neck, whispering words that he couldn't make out, but it was fine, because the cool lips felt nice against his warmed skin and he found himself relaxing into the embrace, wishing that it could hold him forever…

All too soon, he found the sound of an alarm wailing in the distance, urging him to wake from his sleep. His eyebrows narrowed and he inched the blankets over his head, trying desperately to block out both the sound and the sun, wanting to sleep just a little bit longer. He wasn't use to not being able to sleep more than half the day, and it was harder than he thought it would be to stop sleeping. All he wanted to do throughout the day was crawl back into bed and continue his nice dreams from where they had left off.

He idly wondered why dreams always stopped at the best parts, or you could remember what you had dreamt right up to a few seconds after you wake up. Jirou hated that aspect of sleeping; not being able to remember most of your dreams that is. It was annoying since the reason he loved to sleep so much was for the dreams.

Unless he had a nightmare because _that _would just suck.

"Akutagawa-san," a female voice said, prodding at his blanket. "You need to wake up and get ready, we have to leave at eleven, remember?"

Jirou sighed but nodded his head and moved to sit up only to halt and peer down beneath his blanket without Ikeda noticing. Giving an inward twitch, he smiled politely up at Ikeda and said, "You can go have breakfast, Ikeda-chan! I'll be down in after I take a shower!"

Ikeda stared at him for a moment before nodding and slowly walked from the room, Jirou throwing the covers off of him as soon as he heard footsteps walking away and ran to his drawer, pulling clean clothes and running to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

-

After a nice, long, cold shower, Jirou walked slowly down to the dining room, a little mortified that he had just _jerked off _to the thought of Atobe Keigo. Well, that wasn't exactly true as he _had _been jerking off to the idea of his dream man, but then—just as he was about to cum—Atobe suddenly popped to the forefront of his mind.

And he was supposed to go on a date with him today! How mortifying!

At least Atobe-kun would _never _find out that he _jerked off _to his image of him because then Jirou was sure that he would die of complete and utter embarrassment. After all, he _was _a guy and it _would _be a little awkward.

But it probably would be just as awkward if he said he had _touched himself _to the thought of Atobe because he would obviously say "myself" and Atobe thought he was a girl, and that gave him images of girls doing things that he could live without, thank you very much.

Jirou grimaced at _that _pleasant thought (and sense the sarcasm, please) and entered the dining room, hands once again clasped behind his back, thumbs fiddling nervously as he walked over to his regular seat.

He gave a blushing smile to Atobe and slowly sat down, thankful for the flowing, layered skirt that he wore.

"How did you sleep, Koiko?" Jirou lowered in his seat, wishing that he could duck beneath the table and hide. "Koiko?"

"Um…" he bit his lip and averted his eyes. "Fine, Atobe-kun. I had a… nice dream! And you?" he regained his composure slightly and looked curiously over at the heir who seemed to be taking a great deal of interest in his outfit.

"Eh? Ah, hai, ore-sama slept very well. Ore-sama thanks you for asking."

Jirou blushed again and smiled, a small flutter appearing in his stomach at the sight of the small smile on Atobe's face. His feet kicked slightly underneath the table as he poured himself a glass of orange juice, gently bringing it to his lips, trying to ignore the continued gaze of Atobe's eyes watching him.

"It's no problem," he murmured into his cup, trying to hide his face.

"I hope the four of you have fun, Atobe-sama." One girl said, a forced smile on her face. Atobe gave her a short nod, but otherwise ignored her as much as he could.

Ikeda gave Jirou a quick glance. "When will we be leaving, Atobe-sama?" she asked, fork abandoned next to her plate.

"Eleven," he answered, not so much as glancing up at her as he sipped at his own juice, passing on the coffee. "Ore-sama expects the three of you to be ready and in the front hall at that time."

"Hai, Atobe-sama," An and Ikeda stated and Jirou nodded, also saying that he understood as he set his glass back down on the table. The blonde boy let out a soft yawn, covering his mouth as he did so.

"Are you still tired?" Jirou looked up at Atobe in slight surprise before nodding, answering, "A little, I'm not used to getting up so early! I sleep a lot. Sleeping is fun, and I once slept a whole _day _without waking up. It worried my family and friends but I was fine. All goods." He nodded cutely, white shining from behind his slightly glossed lips.

Atobe's lips twitched upwards at his phrasing. "Ore-sama is glad that you were well, Koiko." Jirou blushed once again at the look he received and bowed his head, taking a bit of his strawberry jam covered toast (it seemed that Atobe preferred western styled food to Japanese, or at least, that's what the usually had for breakfast).

After taking a final bite of his food and drink of his juice, Atobe stood and bid them farewell for the time being. "Ore-sama has things to take care of before we must leave," he told An, Ikeda, and Jirou. "Ore-sama will see you at eleven." He gave Jirou an extra small smile and the blonde blinked down at his plate, wondering what the tingling feeling in his chest meant.

-

Jirou stared down at the floor beneath his feet as he, An, and Ikeda waited for Atobe to arrive. An and Ikeda were standing a few feet away, talking about something or other as he stood leaning against the wall, breathing quick in his nervousness.

He had gone on a date once before and it had turned out horrible. Jirou had been asked out by Marui Bunta, his idol who played for Rikkai, and having a crush on the older boy, he had—of course—said yes. The date had started off normally but it had quickly been determined that they couldn't be anything more than friends with how awkward it had seemed for them. And in the end, they never spoke again of that day and Marui had gone off to find himself a boyfriend in his kouhai, Kirihara Akaya.

Jirou had seen the two together, and was happy to say that they really worked well together. Now if only he could find someone that _he _belonged with.

While this wasn't a real date (after all, it wasn't like he had any true or deep feelings for Atobe and there were two girls along with him going on said date), the blonde still couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. What if he said something or did something wrong and Atobe eliminated him or even worse—found out he was a guy?!

The blonde thought he would die if something like the latter were to happen. Atobe-kun _may _have seemed nice, but he was sure that he wasn't so nice as to not mind a guy trying to win his heart, because that would just be weird.

And there was also a very fair chance that Atobe-kun did not like gay people, just as many other people in the world didn't. (The fact that most of the guys that he knew were gay or didn't have a problem with homosexuals didn't seem to register in his mind at the given time).

Anyone else would probably say this was a rational fear of having a crush, but that was just silly since he didn't have one.

He glanced up and quickly looked away, face red when he saw a camera pointed towards him. He had almost forgotten about the cameras that were filming pretty much every where, as well as the microphones wired onto him. He wished he could just get rid of them, but there was only certain times when he could turn them off or be without them such as when he slept or used the bathroom (the bathroom being the only place without a camera also, even his and Ikeda's _bedroom _had a camera).

"Akutagawa-san," the man behind the camera began and Jirou looked questioningly over at him, trying to ignore the camera. "How do you feel about being one of the chosen to go on the first date with Atobe-sama?"

"Um… anou…" Jirou scratched at his neck, nervously averting his gaze from the man only to see An and Ikeda staring at him, awaiting the answer and quickly looked down at the ground, wishing the man would go ask one of them instead.

"Please, no questioning one of ore-sama's date." Jirou smiled in thanks up at the man descending the stairs, getting a small smile and nod in return as Atobe reached him and stood a foot away from him as the camera man turned and walked a bit further away.

"Arigatou, Atobe-kun," Jirou bowed his head.

"No need to thank ore-sama, ore-sama finds the cameras annoying." The heir held his head a bit higher and walked away but Jirou continued to smile at his back, laughing lightly, not believing a word of what he just said. Or, he did, but he did not believe that was the reason he told the camera to back off and he was thankful for it.

"Are the three of you ready?"

"Hai, Atobe-sama,"

"Of course, Monkey King," An smirked as Atobe threw her a glare and gestured the three of them out the door and towards a large stretch-limousine. Jirou blinked when he saw it; it was even larger than the one that had picked him up and that one was large!

He briefly wondered how many limos Atobe-kun even _had_. It must've been a lot if all of those limos had been his (which was at least forty limos) and he wondered what one person would do with all of those.

Jirou was the third one in the limo and squeaked slightly when Atobe slid in next to him, their arms bushing against each other, causing the blonde's breathing to quicken and skin become a dark red.

"Are you okay, Koiko? You look a little flushed." Jirou gave another small squeak and quickly nodded, turning his blushing face away to look out the window as the limo started to move and drive away from the property.

"It's so pretty out," Ikeda stated aloud, peering out of the limo's window at the passing scenery, the Sakura Trees in full bloom.

"That is good then, seeing as we will be going to an outdoor restaurant." Atobe told them and Jirou smiled brightly, almost wanting to clap his hands. He had always wanted to eat outside at a restaurant, but his parents would never let him and his siblings do so.

"It really is pretty outside!" Jirou exclaimed, peering up at the birds fly off in the distance.

"Nice day for tennis," An added and Jirou nodded in agreement. Ikeda sighed in slight annoyance. Did these people ever talk about anything _other _than tennis? It wasn't like it was the only sport in the world, the only thing that was in any way fun. She didn't even see what was so fun about running back and forth and hitting a ball with a racket or whatever it was called (but she obviously never saw these boys' amazing, absurd tennis abilities).

She crossed her legs and peered out her side of the limo. Ikeda had a feeling that she would not be enjoying this date, nor be the one picked to spend alone time with Atobe-sama.

"—and my brother said—"

"Jirou?"

Jirou froze. "Eh?"

"Your brother," Atobe explained. "Jirou,"

"Oh," he almost sighed in relief. "No, our eldest brother; Ichirou-nii. Well, he said that if they picked you, you could never go home, and you'd be trained to fight part-ninjas!" he said this with so much excitement that all the other three people in the limo could do was stare at him, unblinkingly. He scratched at the back of his neck nervously. "Did I say something?"

There was a small chuckle from his right and he looked over at Atobe, blushing slightly before smiling when Atobe asked, "And what was the other part of them?"

"I'm not sure. Ichirou-nii just said something about a son. Or was it Go?" Jirou thought about it for a moment, turning the thought over in his head and Atobe continued to stare at him, unaware of how he was making the blonde feel.

Jirou brought a finger up to his lips, trying to pretend he was still thinking about it when really all the thoughts had already been cleared from his mind only to be replaced with the image of his hands on Atobe's chest as they stared at each other. And what was best about said image was the fact that Jirou was dressed as a boy, not a girl like he was in that moment.

The blonde turned his burning face away and stuttered out, "I—I can't remember. It was probably nothing important anyways. Ichirou-nii likes to make up stories for us."

"If you ever remember the rest of the story, Koiko, ore-sama… ore-sama would like to hear it." Jirou quickly looked at him, smiling when he saw that Atobe was speaking the truth.

"Hai!" he exclaimed, stomach bubbling happily. "I will! If Atobe-kun wants to hear it, I will tell it when I remember. Oh! We're here!"

Before the driver could open the door, Jirou had already bounced from the limo and Atobe gave a small sigh and followed to see the blonde gaping at the restaurant.

"Sugoi… Atobe! Those Sakura trees are so pretty! And those flowers!" he stated, running over to each plant as he said it, spinning around and peering above him. "Sugoi, ne?! I've never been to a place like this! There are tables outside! Can we eat outside, please?" he asked, clasping his hands behind his back and looking childishly innocent.

The heir gave a small cough and nodded. "Hai, if it is okay with the other two."

"Perfectly fine with me," Ikeda answered, also staring up in wonder at the trees placed in around the building and in the yard so that they were situated over tables.

"Same here," An agreed, nodding as she looked around.

"Then, let's eat."

* * *

Atobe listened as Koiko rambled on and on, changing subjects every few minutes or so to something "more fun to talk about". His lips twitched up slightly every time she beamed over at him, brown eyes shining with her happiness.

It had only been a few days, and he had been gay for as long as he could remember (and he had good memory), but he figured that maybe there really _was _an exception to every rule. Maybe there was just _one _girl that he would not mind finding attractive, and funny, and all around spectacular.

And if there really _was _an exception to every rule, he thought that he may have found the exception to him being gay and liking only other males. Koiko was female and yet there was just something about her that was undeniably attractive. Whether it be the way her blonde hair shone in the sunlight, or how her brown eyes always seemed to be smiling, or maybe it was just her all around pleasantness and her honest kindness and happiness, he didn't know, but he didn't think he would mind taking the time to find out.

"—but it was big and it was shiny and I couldn't resist! It was so pretty and it really was kaa-san's fault for leaving something lying around like that. I couldn't help but to want to play with it! I was only six, you know. So, I took it and a played with it but then I lost it." Koiko gave a heavy sigh. "Kaa-san was angry at me but she understood that I didn't know any better but I still got in troubles, but she hoped that it would teach me from playing with her shiny things. It didn't though," Koiko gave a sheepish grin. "She still doesn't know what happened to her diamond necklace."

An laughed loudly and Atobe had to fight from giving a small one also and instead continued to watch the blonde as she went on to tell her next story while they ate lunch. Atobe was glad that Koiko wasn't as anti-social and shy as she had seemed to be when they had first been introduced. In fact, she seemed the complete opposite with her constant laughter and beaming, but Atobe preferred her that way. It just seemed… right.

When lunch was over and it was time for Atobe to make his choice as to who he would spend the rest of the date alone with, he didn't even need a moment to think about it. "Ore-sama would like to have some time alone with you, Koiko."

The blonde blushed and blinked before giving a small smile and nodding. An smiled over at her and stood, Ikeda slowly standing next to her. "Have fun," the other blonde mouthed to Koiko as they walked back to the limo, Ikeda shooting glances at them over her shoulder.

"Anou…" Koiko began. "Why did you pick me?"

Atobe gave an amused smile at her obliviousness. "Because ore-sama feels that ore-sama will have the best time with you. Where would you like to go?"

Cheeks a dark red, Koiko thought for a moment before grinning. "The park!"

-

"I've not been to the park in a long time!" Koiko exclaimed, peering around herself excitedly. "The last time I came by myself, I ended up falling asleep on the bench and worried my family." She gave an embarrassed laugh. "I didn't mean to! But it was so nice outside and…"

"It's fine, Koiko, you do not have to explain to ore-sama." Atobe stated, hand itching to grab the one dangling next to him, but before he could even contemplate taking hold of it, the same hand grabbed onto his and began tugging him forward.

"Ne, Atobe-kun, my feets are tired! Let's sit down!" Koiko pulled him towards a bench and plopped down, swaying with a small smile. "It's so nice out today, isn't it, Atobe-kun? It's warm, but not hot, and there aren't any clouds in the sky and—ooh! A butterfly!" Koiko exclaimed again as a butterfly fluttered it's wings in front of her. She giggled when it flew down and rested on her finger. "Hi!" she gave a small finger wave. "How is butterfly-san doing today?"

Atobe watched as she continued to talk to the butterfly as if it were a person that was able to understand her questions. She didn't seem to mind the lack of response though and continued to chat to it animatedly, and Atobe had a feeling that she was actually using the butterfly to talk to herself.

The butterfly flew from her finger and onto her head as if it were a beautiful, blue hair ornament, and Atobe's mouth went dry and before he knew it, his lips were on the girl's, softly applying pressure to the smooth, pink skin.

Koiko blinked before pulling back and slapping him. "Eeek!" she squeaked and turned away, face darkening. "Gomen! I didn't mean to slap you but you shocked me… I didn't expect that…" Atobe saw her eyes dart wildly around the park and he thought that maybe that wasn't the whole reason but said nothing. "You… kissed me… I…" she bit her lip.

Atobe smiled. "It's fine, you don't have to say anything." The heir stood, sighing slightly and held out his hand, palm face up. "Let's go home,"

Koiko eyed the hand before gently placing her's in it and stood, trying not to look into Atobe's face. Atobe wondered why saying "home" when talking to Akutagawa Koiko sounded so right.


	6. The Planning

_Please read and review!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**-**

**Chapter Six- The Planning**

* * *

-

"Ah," Atobe came to a halt before they entered his limo, turning to face the blonde. "Ore-sama forgot one thing. Ore-sama picked you for this time alone, which means you get an automatic rose, as you know."

"Actually," Koiko told him sheepishly. "I had forgotten about that part." She gave a small giggle, running a finger over a strand of slightly curly, blonde hair. "I had so much fun today! And… that wasn't technically my first date, but I would like to count it as such!"

The heir eyed the short girl as she stood there, an innocent expression on her face while Atobe felt like leaning down and kissing her all over again. He controlled the urge to do so and gave a small nod. "Aa, ore-sama would love for you to think it was good enough to be thought of as your first date, as those should be special."

"This was special," Koiko told him quietly, bowing her head to hide her face.

"If…" his voice trailed off for a second, now forgetting the cameras in the background watching them. "If ore-sama were to kiss you again, would you slap ore-sama?"

Koiko smiled slightly and peaked up from beneath her bangs. "I might, do you really want to take the chance?"

"Ore-sama believes he does," he whispered, once again leaning down and softly pressing his lips to the blonde's, moving them only slightly in an innocent press of lips against lips.

Koiko's eyes closed and then so did Atobe's, the heir stepping closer to the small body, arms wrapping loosely around her slim waist. The girl nibbled a little on Atobe's bottom lip, her shyness seeping through into it and she pulled back a moment later, gasping for breath, eyes a little glazed over.

"Ore-sama thinks," he began, leaning his head against Koiko's. "That that was probably the nicest kiss ore-sama has ever had." Koiko snuggled against his chest, nodding her head only slightly, and Atobe found himself wondering what she was thinking.

* * *

_I cannot believe I just had my first kiss with somebody I've known about a week_, was what Jirou was thinking as he flopped down onto his bed, thankful that Ikeda was not in the room at the moment.

Did he like Atobe? Well, yes, he had already come to that conclusion but did he _like _like Atobe? He _did _enjoy their date, and their conversations, and their… kissing but did that constitute as liking him? Yes, he believed it did. If—by the way his face automatically heated up and butterflies flapped around in his stomach—he reacted like this, that meant he _had _to like him, didn't it? He had only liked one person before and that was Marui-kun and that hadn't exactly worked out so well, so he didn't know what to expect with this.

But Atobe had kissed him both times, so that had to mean that Atobe felt something for him too, right? Wasn't that usually how it worked? Or did Atobe somehow know of his feelings for him and was only teasing him? Atobe didn't seem like the type of person to do that though. He seemed nicer, and more mature than that.

Jirou gave a dreamy sigh and smile, rolling over onto his side and hugging the pillow. He hadn't thought that kissing could be so fun, so nice. The lingering feeling of skin against his own was warm and he welcomed it. How he wished that he could've kissed Atobe longer, perhaps being able to play with the other man's tongue a little bit?

The blonde blushed but still didn't open his eyes. He never had thoughts like these, and something strange was stirring in his nether regions, it made him feel a little nervous, excited, and giddy all at the same time. He wondered if Atobe felt anything like this, and then pushed the thought away. Of course he didn't, at least not for him. He was a "ditzy blonde" (he heard what everyone said when they thought he wasn't listening…) and he was also a boy…

_But Atobe-kun doesn't know you're a boy, _a part of him said, but Jirou dared not get his hopes up in fear of having them come crashing down. But, he could definitely dream until then.

And what nice dreams they were sure to be. Dreams filled with soft touches and kisses, whispers and smiles meant only for him. He liked that thought; the thought that they were only for him and nobody else. It made him feel nice, wanted, special, all around wonderful.

Now if only they were real.

-

Jirou knew that there was no logical reason for him to feel nervous as he stood waiting with the women to find out who moved on and who went home. It was already assured that he was moving on since he got an automatic rose that day, but what if something happened? What if somehow Atobe was allowed to change his mind and he decided he didn't want Jirou there no longer? He thought he might cry if that were to happen despite the unlikeliness of that happening.

Atobe had kissed him. He just had to remember that. If Atobe didn't like him, he would not have kissed him, right? So, did that mean Atobe _did _like him? Because he still wasn't sure about that. After all, they had only met the other day and didn't really know each other that well.

But Jirou knew that he was crushing on the heir, that much was easy to tell, but he wasn't sure _how _big of a crush that was or if Atobe had one on him. He blushed at the thought. It would be absolutely wonderful if he _did _have a crush on him, but then again, it would be absolutely horrible because sooner or later Jirou would have to come clean about being a guy, and the more Atobe-kun liked him now, the more he would probably hate him then.

And Jirou _hated _that thought; the thought of _being _hated by him. It wasn't fun at all to think about it, and he hoped it never happened. Atobe-kun was nice, and he was fun to be around (from what he had seen at least), and he would love to somehow become the younger man's friend, if at all possible.

"Are you ready, Atobe-san?" The host asked and Atobe gave a nod. Baba smiled and looked at the girls. "Akutagawa-san, if you would come get your rose."

Jirou glanced over at him and slowly stepped down from where he was standing, slowly walking over to the Atobe heir. The man gave a small smile and handed him the rose, letting their fingers brush and linger against each other's.

The blonde's cheeks tinged pink and Jirou turned around, walking back over to his spot. He was thankful for the fact that Atobe had not—in fact—changed his mind about him. It was relieving, to say the least.

"Tachibana An,"

Jirou gave the other blonde a small smile as she sighed and took the rose from Atobe, not looking particularly interested. He briefly wondered why she was still here if she didn't want Atobe, after all, weren't the girls (and him) allowed to leave at any time if they decided that they were not interested in Atobe, or had he read "the instructions" (as Oshitari had put it) incorrectly?

"Ikeda Arisa,"

He tried to give her a smile as well, but Ikeda seemed to be ignoring him—as well as the rest of the girls—and walked up, accepting her rose with a large smile on her face as if she had just won some kind of prize.

Atobe continued to call names, but Jirou found himself tuning it out as he stared at the heir. He _was _rather good looking, wasn't he? Not only was his physical appearance very nice, but—unlike with most people—his extreme confidence in himself seems to just add onto his attractiveness, which surprised Jirou a bit. After all, didn't extreme confidence in one's self usually _detract _from a person's attractiveness? But it seemed to do the opposite with Atobe.

He blushed at the thought. Why was he thinking of these types of things anyways? Jirou was not there to fall in love, he was there to play a harmless prank… wait… fall in love?  
Jirou hadn't actually thought about it, and he knew himself that he was _not _in love with Atobe. He didn't even know Atobe, but… could it possibly be heading in that direction? The blonde shook his head slightly, trying not to attract attention. It was too early to be thinking about "falling in love" with Atobe Keigo. Hardly enough time had passed to think about having a crush on Atobe Keigo, and yet, there he was, thinking about how he could possibly fall in love with the heir…

The hosts voice broke into his thoughts, and he tuned back in to hear him say, "And now the next fifteen will move on, while the five who are not shall be going home." Baba gave them all a small smile and Jirou wondered idly if he ever stopped smiling. It didn't really seem like it, and that was something coming from Jirou since he _hardly _ever stopped smiling.

"The next event will be revealed tomorrow and it'll also take place tomorrow. I'll just say that all best be on your best behavior for this one. Atobe-san," Baba turned towards the heir. "Any statements?"

Atobe glanced them over. "You all might want to start preparing a dress for tomorrow evening."

Jirou frowned. He had been hoping he wouldn't have to wear one.

* * *

Ikeda sighed and tried to ignore the girls around the study room, lightly tapping her pencil against the table. She glanced over her shoulder and rolled her eyes when she saw that they were all still standing around Koiko, hoping she would wake up from where she had fallen asleep in a chair so that they could badger her with questions.

Why did they have to be so immature? She hoped that Atobe didn't see anything in them and she highly doubted she needed to worry about that anyways. Atobe just didn't seem to go for the gossiping, immature type. But she wondered what _was _Atobe's type of girl? He didn't seem hardly interested in any of them here (including herself). Well, that wasn't true, he did seem fairly interested in Koiko.

She wanted to scowl. What did he see in Koiko? The girl was always giggling and smiling and was a completely dizty blonde that was too innocent for her own good. Either that, or she was just completely oblivious.

Ikeda rather believed both of those though.

"You wake her up," one of the women demanded another and the girl squeaked and shook her head, staring down at the blonde.

"I can do that… she looks… content." She frowned. "What is it that Atobe-sama likes? I mean, sure she's pretty and I guess to a guy she would be cute and her personality is nice and—"

"Okay, we get it," Yau huffed. "She's absolutely freaking perfect. Can I go now?" she tossed a strand of curly dark hair over her bare shoulder, but—instead of leaving—the woman sat down in another chair, looking at anything other than at the blonde girl asleep across from her. "This is depressing. It's hardly been a week and none of us even stand a chance against _her_," she spat, tapping her manicured nails against the arm. "What is so good about Akutagawa Koiko? Other than the fact that she's perfect," Yau stated sarcastically, rolling her eyes and then a grin overcame her face, a wicked smile. "We should humilate her somehow."

Slowly, the girls standing around her smiled. "But how?" one of them asked and Yau tapped her chin. "We'll think about that, but why not? What's stopping us? We'll make it look like an accident. No one—not even Atobe-sama—will know."

Ikeda inwardly thought that they were lucky that this was the time alloted to them in which they didn't have microphones on nor were there any cameras around.

A book snapped shut on the other side of the room, and everyone watched as An stood and walked towards the door. Before exiting, she turned and stared at the girls. "If you guys honestly think that you will succeed in whatever plan you come up with, you are sadly mistaken. I hardly know Monkey King, and yet I know him better then any of you do, I'm sure. He was known for his insight back in middle school, and he didn't use it just for tennis, and I'm sure it's only gotten better since then." The blonde rolled her eyes. "I'd like to see you guys try though." The door snapped shut as she exited the room.

There was silence for a moment and then Yau shook her head. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. Ikeda," the auburn haired lady looked up, slightly startled at the sound of her name. She looked over to see everyone else staring at her. "Are you in?"

She glanced around at them all before slowly looking back down at her book. "No… I don't think so."

Yau frowned. "You're no fun," she turned back to the others. "What're we going to do?"

Unluckily for them, they did not notice a small smirk on the supposedly sleeping blonde's face.


	7. The Dinner

_Do not be disappointed, what those girls do is just the FIRST thing. =) Although, that may disappoint you as well._

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

**-**

**Chapter Seven- The Dinner**

* * *

-

Jirou eyed the dress laid out in front of him. It was a light pink, cocktail dress that ended just above his knees. It had a flat chest which was good—of course—and a bow at the chest line. It flowed out from the waist, which he was also glad for, not particularly fond of wearing tight clothing—especially dresses.

He glanced down to the white heals and the pink headband and bit his lip, slightly worried at why he would be required to wear yet _another _dress—but he had bought many just in case, because he had a feeling that he would be needing them.

There were flowers on the headband and also a simple necklace with a small flower. He frowned. The blonde didn't understand why Oshitari insisted that he wear things with flowers on them; all the younger man had said was "You look good in flowers, Jirou-kun." Was that true? Did he look good in flowers? Did Atobe think so?

Jirou blushed. What was he thinking thoughts like that for? Why did every question he had go back to Atobe in some way lately? It was like—at the moment—his life was revolving around the heir, but that was just silly. Of course his life didn't revolve around him…

But what if it did? Would that be so horrible? No, he didn't think it would, but why would his life revolve around Atobe? He hardly knew Atobe. Sure, he had definitely felt something when they kissed, a spark there when they touch, and a bubble of happiness here when Atobe smiled at him. But that was normal, ne? It wasn't out of the ordinary; it couldn't be, because—if it was—why would he be feeling these things?

He slowly put away the outfit and collapsed onto his bed, holding his stomach. He felt… so weird. Jirou didn't know if it was a bad weird or a good weird though. It felt like it was a good weird and he'd rather go with good, so he would tell himself that it was good.

Smiling slightly, he hugged his orange pillow to his chest. Atobe has said that they would hang the prisms in the sun room. He really looked forward to that. It was sure to be even prettier than it probably was with rainbows shooting all over the place!

Feeling a slight tingle in his stomach, he wondered what the cause of it was and shrugged. He didn't feel sick, well, maybe he did. He wasn't sure. Of course he had been sick before, but the stirring in his stomach didn't feel like any sickness he had ever had. Perhaps it was one he had never experienced before?

He didn't like that thought. What if it was a very bad illness that could die! Jirou shook his head wildly. "Iie!" he shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that. Those kinds of thoughts were sad and depressing and he didn't like them at all. And so, he thought about a happier subject again.

Atobe.

He was a _very _happy subject, indeed. At least, he made Jirou happy. He was nice, and sweet, and smart, and funny, and talented, and all around great and it just made him plain ecstatic to be around him. Jirou felt giddy and as bouncy as a bunny rabbit.

Jirou giggled. Bunnies were cute. Especially white, fluffy rabbits.

The blonde wondered if Atobe minded bunnies.

* * *

Jirou was about ready to fall asleep. Of course, that was nothing unusual, but this was for a different reason than usual. He was bored out of his mind.

He really wanted to rest his head on his hand but knew it wouldn't be proper to place his elbow on the table. Truthfully, he really couldn't care less about proper etiquette, but then he remembered that this would end in at least one person going on a date with Atobe-kun. And the blonde really wanted to go on another date with him.

So he would have to put up with the proper etiquette and not falling asleep in his food if he wanted to go on another date with Atobe, because the first one was absolutely wonderful. They had talked, and they had smiled, and they had enjoyed each other's company, and best of all, they had kissed, twice. Atobe was a very good kisser. Or, at least, he thought so. He didn't really have anyone to compare him to, but he was sure as far as kissers went, Atobe was very good at it.

He frowned at the thought of how Atobe had probably gotten good at it. Practice makes perfect as they say, and he didn't like the idea of Atobe practicing his kissing unless it was with something that didn't have two legs, two eyes, a face, nor speak a human language. It was fine if it was his pillow or a stuffed animal though… how he wished he could be that pillow or stuffed animal if so.

Jirou blushed at the thought, averting his gaze from any of the people around him. Why did he wish to be an inanimate object? Being an inanimate object would be so _boring_. He couldn't talk, he couldn't eat Pocky, he wouldn't be able to play tennis, nor take naps, he wouldn't get to be with Atobe then! And that was a very bad thought. It made him sad.

Because Atobe was sugoi, and Jirou liked sugoi things, Atobe included.

He snickered at the thought of a box with the words _**your very own Atobe Keigo included inside! **_That would be amusing, but he didn't think Atobe would like it. It would be a fun thing to play with though.

It didn't register in his mind about how that comment could be taken had anybody heard it.

Jirou glanced around the table, fighting off the desperate urge to rest his head in his hand again by fisting his hands in his dress, not really minding the wrinkles that appeared in it. Not only was he bored and wanted to sleep, but he was also a little nervous at finding out what the other girls were going to do. He was sure that they would try something tonight, probably not the main event, but just the opening act.

"Can you please pass that?" a voice said from down the table.

"Of course," the girl next to him picked up a dish slightly in front of him and Jirou stared down at his food. Before he knew it, the girl's seat tipped over and a bowl of something red and hot had been doused over Jirou's lap and Jirou shot up in his seat, eyes clenching closed, the sound of a bowl falling to the floor echoing in the room.

"Koiko," Atobe quickly stood from his seat and walked over to him, taking him lightly by the arm. "Are you okay?"

Jirou gave a small nod, trying to ignore the burning of the sauce on his legs. "H-hai," he replied a bit shakily and glanced down at his ruined dress. "I… I'm going to go clean up, if that's okay, and I'll be back down in a bit." He told Atobe quietly.

"You don't have to come back down, Koiko," Atobe told him, sending a small glance at the girl who had been seated next to him.

The blonde's lips twitched up. "No, I want to. Ne, I'd like to spend more time with Atobe-kun." His face tinged red and he glanced down at sauce covered ground, the feeling of Atobe's hand moving down his arm and to his wrist sending goose bumps over his skin.

"Okay, go ahead; ore-sama will see you again in a few minutes." Jirou gave him a small smile before turning and walking from the room, not looking back at the girls watching him leave. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of it.

Walking into his room, he removed his microphones and turned them off, throwing them onto the bed. Jirou opened his closet and looked at the dresses hanging there, hurriedly choosing a bright yellow dress with a high chest and a skirt that ended just below the knees.

Quickly entering the bathroom, he set the dress down and jumped into the shower to wash the sauce from his body. He'd show those girls that he didn't lay down for that type of stuff. They'd have to try harder from now on if they wanted a rise out of him.

He blow dried his hair, wondering why girls would choose so long to spend in the bathroom and then donned the yellow dress, brushing his hair and smoothing it out. Stepping into a pair of yellow flats and placing a yellow hair band on his head, Jirou thought maybe Oshitari knew too much about female clothing…

* * *

After the maids had cleaned the sauce from the floor and had replaced Koiko's chair with another, Atobe sat at the head of the table, eyeing the girl who had dropped it all over Koiko. The girl seemed nervous for some reason and he didn't like the thought of _why _she would be nervous. He had a feeling though that the sauce incident had _not _been an accident.

And—if that were true—she was going home. Well, she was probably going to go home anyways, either way, dropping a bowl of sauce on someone did _not _qualify you to become an Atobe.

The door opened and Atobe looked over, breath hitching slightly when he saw Koiko standing there, dressed in yellow, her hands clasped behind her back and a pleasant smile on her face, despite what had just happened a few minutes ago. Somehow—if it was at all possible—she looked even prettier then she had the last time he saw her. But—if he thought about it, Koiko did seem to get prettier and prettier every time he saw her, which was an odd concept to him. Girls could be pretty but then they could be _pretty _and Koiko was definitely _pretty._

The difference was that _pretty _is something that attracts him. But then there was attractive and _attractive. _Koiko was _attractive _while Ikeda was merely attractive. It was all rather simple, really.

Koiko flashed him a beaming smile before almost skipping to her seat, but not quite. She smoothed the dress beneath her legs and sat down, scooting closer to the table.

"You look very nice, Koiko," he gave a polite smile, ignoring how his inner thoughts were telling him that she looked more than "very nice".

"Thanks!" she beamed. "I like this dress," but he saw that her smile was slightly forced when she said that and got the feeling that the girl wasn't too fond of wearing dresses. He hid his smile behind his hand at that. For some reason, he really liked that. "It's kind of sunny, I like the sun. I also pocky, and manga, and sleeping." She nodded. "Sleeping is fun because I always have nice dreams, not many people always have nice dreams. And I also always remember my dreams and that's a lot of fun. Yup, it is." Koiko grinned before taking a bite her food, not noticing the amused look Atobe shot her.

"What kind of dreams do you have?" his lips twitched up at the blush that crossed her cheeks quickly before she cheerfully said, "Nice ones!" she beamed.

"Ore-sama should hope so," Atobe stated, the amused look not quite faded from his face just yet. He glanced around the table to see a few disgruntled looks from some of the girls, something which annoyed him greatly, for some reason.

The rest of the dinner passed by uneventfully. Many of the girls tried to strike up a conversation with the heir, something of which proved more difficult then any of them had thought. Some had succeeded, but—in the end—Atobe eventually went back to talking to Koiko, and sometimes Ikeda. This—of course—angered most of the females because Atobe hardly seemed at all interested in any of them. Nope, it was all _Ikeda_, but it was mostly _Koiko_—which also baffled them all.

What did he see in her? She didn't seem very smart, and she definitely wasn't prettier than a lot of the girls there. She was ditzy and loud, seemed to be interested in _male _things such as reading manga (of course some of them had this hobby and kept it as their "dirty little secret").

Sure, she was athletic, had nice legs, and was even a bit sweet, but that was _nothing_ compared to what _they _had. But she probably didn't even play tennis and was just saying that to make her seem more appealing to Atobe. She had probably looked him up before coming here to see if there was anything she could say to make Atobe more interested in her, because she wasn't actually interesting _at all_.

Or—at least—they wished she wasn't, but there was just something about her…

Once dinner was finished and they were sitting around at the table, Atobe looked each of them over. "Two of you will be going on a date with ore-sama. This was to test and see if you all had proper etiquitte," the girl next to Jirou gaped slightly at that before blushing red and bowing her head. "The two that shall be going on the date with ore-sama are…" he looked at each of them again. "Ikeda Arisa and Naito Chinatsu,"

Atobe glanced over at Koiko to see that she was frowning slightly and he could tell that she was a bit disappointed in not being picked, but overall, she looked perfectly fine, and that made him want to smile a bit. He held it back of course, but the point is, was that it made him _want _to smile.

"We will be leaving tomorrow at nine, so be ready."

-

Jirou was having a difficult time falling asleep, something which was definitely a first for him. He knew why Atobe-kun didn't choose him to go, he really did, but he couldn't stop wishing that Atobe _had _chose him.

It was selfish—he knew that, but even selfish people had desires, and he _really _wanted to get to know Atobe more. He wanted to know everything about him, his favorite food, color, the type of shampoo he prefered, about his home life and his work life and what he was like in school (though he did know a bit from Gakuto and Oshitari), and even what he sounded like when—

He blushed and burried his head in his pillow as he felt a stirring in his lower stomach. _No, no thoughts like that, at least not tonight_, he begged quietly to himself, knowing that it was probably a hopless wish.

When Atobe had asked what _kind _of dreams he had, his mind had automatically shot towards himself jerking off when Atobe's face popped into his mind. Of course he had blushed and he knew that Atobe probably wondered at that reaction, and he hoped that wasn't part of his reason for not picking him to go on the date. How embarrassing for him!

Even worse though, what if Atobe had been able to tell what he was thinking and figure out that Jirou had done bad things with the thought of Atobe in mind? Jirou bit his lip. That would be… bad, right?

What was he thinking? Of course it would be bad. He would know that Jirou had… _done things _and that would be just plain awkward. But hadn't he already gone through all of this?

But the way Atobe had looked at him afterwards… it seemed a bit like he had _wanted _to go on the date with him…


	8. The Tennis Tournament

_I hope you guys like Taji! 3 I love him, and he's canon! Taji probably isn't his name but since I don't know his name… -shrugs- I made one up. Hope you guys enjoy! (and is it weird that I've already written the final chapter and most of the epilogue—which is longer than all of the chapters probably—when I've not even finished writing the middle of the story? Ah well, lol)_

**Disclaimer: Don't own it**

**-**

**Chapter Eight- The Tennis Tournament**

* * *

-

The next day while Atobe was on his date with Ikeda and Naito, Jirou decided that he would explore the _outside _of the large Atobe Manor. Even being there for almost two weeks, he had yet to really explore. Maybe he would find some good napping spots!

So with this thought in mind, Jirou traveled out of the large mansion and into the gardens, peering around in awe at the wonderful flowers and large trees that decorated the landscape. He saw a few people here and there tending to the flowers and smiled politely when he passed, a lot of the time not being able to help himself by saying how much of a "sugoi" job they were doing.

The gardeners always smiled at him thankfully as he passed, moving on to look at some of the other wonders of the garden. He followed along a trail, pausing when he got to a fork in the road.

Jirou cocked his head, looking back and forth between the two trails, wondering which one he should take. A bark came from his right and he looked down, beaming when he saw a small white dog staring up at him with large, dark eyes. Jirou kneeled down, picking up the dog, saying, "Hello…" he glanced down. "Boy doggy!" Jirou grinned. "My name is J—Koiko, well," he lowered his voice to a whisper in case there were any cameras or microphones around. "My name is actually Jirou but shhh," he held a finger to his lips. "Don't tell anyone that," he set the dog down and it continued to star up at Jirou, blinking.

"You're cute," Jirou stated, "And fluffy, and white. Whose dog are you?" the dog barked and ran off down the fork that was almost hidden by trees. Jirou pouted before running after it. "Doggy! I guess I'm going this way then," the blonde stated quietly to himself, quickly following after the white tail he saw whip around a turn.

He came to a halt when he saw the dog had stopped and blinked at his surroundings. It was a small, circular clearing, probably only about ten or so feet all around. The trees shaded the area completely, and yet dark, green grass covered the ground, a few moss covered rocks placed here and there. Jirou heard the trickling of water and figured that there was probably a pond or something nearby. He smiled at the dog and stated, "Thank you," before sitting down on the ground, making himself comfortable.

As he sat down, the dog slowly came over and laid its head in his lap. Jirou beamed and softly petted his soft, white fur, giggling at the nips the dog took at his fingers.

"I like you," Jirou told him, rubbing behind his ears. "You're even better then a bunny and I like those," he could swear that the dog looked happy at that, probably noting the fond voice in which Jirou was talking to him, even if he couldn't understand what he was saying. "I wonder who you belong to, they're lucky to have such a cute dog." He glanced down at the collar that he hadn't noticed until now. "Taji, eh? It fits you, you're so pretty." Jirou yawned and let himself lay down onto the soft grass that seemed to cushion him.

He softly hugged the dog, tiredly petting it still as he drifted off into sleep. Taji stared up at the blonde man before snuggling into Jirou's chest, licking Jirou's chin before he joined the boy for a nice nap.

-

"Has anyone seen Koiko?" Atobe asked for the eighth time since he had got back from his dates. He had seen every other person except for her, and it was worrying him slightly because he had gotten back an hour or so before.

An paused as she passed. "I think she said something about the gardens earlier, but that was hours ago and I'm not sure if she's still there." Atobe sighed and nodded, saying, "Thank you, Tachibana, ore-sama shall go look for her."

"Do you need help?" An asked and Atobe shook his head. "Iie, ore-sama will handle it." Truth was, he just felt like finding her so that he would have time to talk to her alone on the way back to the manor, that was, if he found her.

So, heading out into the gardens, he paused, wishing that there was still some of the gardeners around so that maybe he could ask one of them if they had seen her, but it was falling dark and they had all gone home for the day.

He tried to think as if he were Koiko, what would she be doing in the gardens? She had always said that she liked to nap outside, so somewhere where she could sleep peacefully, and it had to be nice and calming, preferably something that was also rather pretty with its surroundings.

Atobe headed to the north-east gardens, glancing around ever minute or so, but there was nothing that really caught his eye. Of course, he might have been thinking to complicatedly as it _was _Koiko that the place had to be pleasing, not him, but he was certain that she wasn't in any of those places.

There was a bark to his left and he saw a small, white dog staring up at him beneath the trees nearly hiding a trail into the forested part of the gardens. He smiled slightly. "Ore-sama hasn't seen you in awhile, Taji." The dog barked again, turned and ran back down the trail, Atobe sighed and shook his head; that dog did like to wander around the grounds. He looked back over to see Taji once again where he had been a moment ago, head cocked slightly to the side. "You want ore-sama to follow you?" he sighed and nodded, maybe Taji could help him afterwards anyways.

Taji barked, turned, and ran back down the trail, Atobe quickly following behind him, having only been down this way a few times, and thinking that it was rather nice. Finally, Taji stopped and Atobe looked into the clearing before smiling and looking down at his dog. Kneeling down, he petted Taji, whispering a quiet, "Thank you," before walking over to Koiko and staring down at her, not noticing that Taji quickly backed away and hid.

Koiko was smiling in her sleep and Atobe found himself wondering what she was dreaming of. Her lips were slightly parted and her blond, sunny hair was splayed across her head, and Atobe noticed how they were beginning to curl slightly and wave. He smiled, resting his hands in his pockets. He much preferred that to the only slightly wavy but mostly straight hair. Koiko's hair at the moment seemed much more wild and carefree; it suited her personality well.

Once again kneeling down, he couldn't help himself as he reached out and brushed a strand of blonde hair away from her face, pulling back when Koiko's smile widened and she shifted, murmuring something in her sleep.

He didn't wish to disturb the seemingly nice dream that she was having but it was getting dark and Koiko really needed to get back to the manor. It wouldn't be good if she stayed outside for too long by herself, she'd end up getting sick.

"Koiko," he whispered, getting no response from her. Gently touching her face, he said a bit louder, "Koiko, you need to wake to wake up, it's getting late."

The girl slowly blinked her eyes open, yawning quietly. "Atobe?" she looked around her. "Where is the…?" she shook her head. "Never mind," she smiled up at him. "You looked for me,"

Nodding with a small, pink tinge to his cheek that he tried to fight down, he answered, "Hai, barely found you as well," he stood and held out a hand. Koiko bit her lip and took it, standing as well. Atobe held onto the hand, liking the way it fit in his. It was small, and soft for the most part, but somehow still a little rough and he figured that was from playing tennis. His smile widened at that thought, coming to the conclusion that Koiko's hand definitely went well with his.

Reluctantly letting the girl's hand go, he led the way from clearing, keeping an eye on the yawning blonde girl next to him as she rubbed her brown eyes tiredly. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Koiko beamed and nodded. "Hai! It was so pretty in there, and the ground was so soft that I didn't even need anything to lay my head on! I'd like to go back there when I get the chance, if I may, Atobe-kun." She blushed and averted her eyes.

Chuckling, Atobe said, "You don't need to ask, you are free to go wherever you like here in the gardens, ore-sama doesn't think many of the others really appreciate it."

"Because they're just silly," Koiko exclaimed. "This place is so beautiful, both the inside, and the outside. I love every bit of it," she smiled, looking back around the grounds.

Atobe walked ahead slightly to hide his own growing smile. "Maybe you'll be able to see even more of it as time passes," he glanced over his shoulder to see a shocked but happy look on Koiko's face.

Blinking, the girl ran back up to Atobe's side, biting her lip and taking Atobe's hand, leaning a little into his side. "I hope so," she whispered quietly. She liked it here…

-

Jirou was rather pleased when he was the first one to get a rose. Of course it wouldn't have mattered that much as long as he got one, but it made him feel special to be getting the _first _rose. He was grinning brightly as he walked up to Atobe, yearning to place his hand back in the heir's. They just fit so well together, it was almost unbelievable.

They let their hands bush against each other's when Jirou had taken his rose, which made his insides squirm somehow pleasantly. He blushed at the jealous gazes some of the girls set him and walked back to his spot, happily beaming to himself.

Ikeda got the second rose, as everyone pretty much suspected, An got one as well, but Jirou figured that was because she was a lot more decent then any of the other girls, but Jirou could tell that Atobe didn't like her in _any _way, let alone a romantic way.

When it was over, there were only ten girls left, and he was shocked to see how quickly the numbers were going down, but that meant they were getting closer to finding out who Atobe would be picking in the end. A part of him couldn't help the selfish thought of, "I hope it's me,"

After it was only the last ten girls, Atobe smiled slightly and said, "Ore-sama planned this before ore-sama met any of you, so do not complain. Ore-sama suggests you rest well tonight for tomorrow, we shall be playing some tennis."

It was silent for a moment before a loud "Yoshi!" filled the room excitedly.

* * *

Atobe wanted to laugh. This was just plain amusing. While both An and Koiko had gone to run some laps to warm up, the rest of the girls were just standing there idiotically, holding onto the rackets supplied to them and nervously trying to figure out how to play the game.

They had been told the rules, but none of them really understood them, and Atobe knew that it would either be down to Koiko or An in the end. He wondered who—between the two of them—would it be. He desperately hoped that it was Koiko for some reason; it would be just another chance to be able to be alone with her.

The girl was special, he was now certain of that. Nobody—let alone a female—had ever been able to get these feelings in him to arise and surface. Atobe cared for, he wasn't sure of how much it was, but he did care for her. She was perfect in every way, her imperfections made her cuter then she had first seemed to be, she was funny, and cheerful, and even seemed to be pretty smart. She was someone that Atobe would have never expected to fall for, but there he was, doing exactly what he had not thought possible; falling for a female.

"Ne, Atobe-kun," he turned at the sound of the voice to see Koiko running back over. "Done!" she beamed as An came to a halt, panting a bit more than Koiko.

"How do you run so much?" someone asked and the blonde blinked, turning and answering, "It's not as much as I usually run but it's fine for today," she stated, glancing at Atobe in amusement who coughed into his hand to hide a chuckle. It would probably definitely be more than enough for her as her only real challenge would more than likely be An, unless some of the women there had a hidden talent for it.

"Now that those two are finished with their warm up," he glanced at the other girls in front of him, who looked happy not to be panting like An and Koiko. "If there is anyone else who wishes to warm up, feel free to do so." When none of them said anything, Atobe hid another smile and continued, "Then shall we begin?"

The names were drawn at random and there were two matches going on at once, the winner of each match would then go on to play one of the other winners after everyone had a chance to play one match. Koiko was disappointed to find that she didn't get to play in one of the first matches, but would be playing Ikeda during the third match. One person would have to play an extra match unless one forfeited, and that would be decided during the second round, there being three rounds in all.

To keep herself from falling asleep in boredom, Koiko sat herself down next to Atobe, yawning as the people playing now just seemed to be handing each other points. Some had gotten lucky and had served the ball correctly or returned it correctly and it had gotten passed their opponent, but that seemed a bit rare.

"They're not very good," yawned Koiko, eyes now closed as she started to hunch over on the bench.

"No, they aren't, but ore-sama expected none of them too be all that good. Ore-sama looks forward to seeing you play, Koiko." Koiko's eyes snapped open and she stared at him, a pink blush quickly brightening her cheeks.

"I'm sure I'm not that good," but she couldn't help but feel happy at what Atobe had said. He wanted to see _her _play? Why would he want to see her—of all people—play in a tennis match? Sure, she was probably better then all of these girls combined, but she wasn't anything special, not at all.

"Of course," Atobe smoothly answered, twitching when a stray ball flew two feet from his head. "And if one of them hits either of us, they are going home automatically." He gave Koiko a smile at that. "Hopefully they know that though or else we are in for a long day."

"I think these matches will finish fairly fast," Koiko nodded. "They can hardly gain a point most of them. Some of them aren't bad, at least they aren't repeatedly handing over points, but they still aren't very good and I'm bored." She yawned again.

Atobe stiffened slightly before relaxing when he felt her head fall onto his shoulder and soft puffs of breath escaped the smooth, pink lips and onto his exposed arm. Suddenly, he hoped that both of these matches would last for a while longer so that he could keep Koiko leaning on him as she slept.

Sadly for him, the matches didn't last much longer and soon it was time for Koiko to wake up to have her match against Ikeda. Softly prodding her awake, Koiko yawned and stood, grabbing her tennis racket and sleepily walking over to the tennis court.

The heir raised an eyebrow, he was pretty sure that she was still asleep.

"Which?" she asked, momentarily forgetting that Ikeda knew _nothing _about tennis.

"Eh?" the woman asked in confusion. What did she mean "which"? "Which" what?

Koiko paused for a second. "Smooth or rough?" she asked instead, hoping to get across that Ikeda needed to _pick _one. "Um," she began. "Smooth?" Jirou spun his racket and let it fall to the ground before picking it up and showing it to Ikeda, tiredly blinking her eyes. "Rough, my serve,"

She walked to the correct position for her serve and blearily watched as Ikeda tried to figure out where she was supposed to go. After Ikeda had gotten it correct, Koiko yawned and served the ball, eyes barely open.

"15-love,"

"Uh, what does 'love' mean?"

"It means zero basically," Koiko yawned again, serving when they had both gotten to their spots.

The game went by rather quickly, and it was of course the most interesting one by far, and yet it was all _but _interesting for Koiko because Ikeda was too easy to beat. She needed someone who would prove to be at least a little bit of a challenge.

She hoped that she would get to play An, at least that would be more interesting then these others.

The one upside this match had though, was the reactions from the girls who had said she had only been _saying _that she could play tennis to get on Atobe's good side. She wanted to shoot them a smirk for that, but was too tired to put in the effort.

At one point, Ikeda had managed to successfully return one of Koiko's shots and Koiko blinked before running up, flipping her wrist as she slid onto the ground, watching as her awkwardly angled shot was unable to be return.

She saw Atobe straighten up slightly at the bench he was sitting on and shot him a quick smile before standing and went to get back into position. Her return wasn't anything special, it wasn't as if she were playing anyone spectacularly great. Now if it was Marui-kun…

In the end, Koiko had won 6 games to Love in which Ikeda had not scored even one point. Koiko though just shook her hand and yawned before walking back over to the bench and falling back asleep with her head resting on Atobe's shoulder, much to the jealousy of the surrounding women.

The rest of the matches passed uneventfully much like the first ones had. Soon it was Koiko's turn once again and she won that match easily, hardly even opening her eyes. Finally, there were only five people left and the matches for the last round were decided. Since there was one left over person, they either had to wait and someone else would play an extra match against them or they would forfeit. The girl decided to forfeit, having had more than enough tennis for one life time.

Koiko's last match came in the form of her versus An, something which the blonde girl seemed to be a bit excited for, if only for the fact that An would at least be a much more difficult opponent than the girls that Koiko had already played and won against.

She quickly grabbed her racket, yawning a bit—as she wasn't completely awake as the person she was playing against wasn't someone like Atobe or Marui Bunta—as she walked over to the net.

"Rough or smooth?"

"Rough," Koiko answer and An spun her racket, kneeling over to pick it up and show Koiko that it was smooth.

"My serve," An sent Koiko a small smile who returned it before walking to her side of the court, letting out another yawn as she got into position.

An was definitely a lot better than both Ikeda and the other girls put together. But Koiko still seemed to find it all a bit boring as she successfully returned An's serves and returns each and every time.

Koiko blearily ran up to the front and flicked her wrist, returning the shot at an awkward angel as she slipped onto the ground. An narrowed her eyes slight as was successfully returned, making it 30-15 in Koiko's favor.

An really did try her best, but she found herself outdone by the other blonde girl as she continuously returned the shots awkwardly, not allowing An to even _try _to return them, but An and the other girls wondered if it was really necessary that Koiko fall onto the floor every time she did that.

Picking herself up off of the ground, Koiko grabbed her racket and grabbed another tennis ball, feeling amazingly uncomfortable in the tennis-skirt.

But Atobe found her amazingly wonderful to look, the tennis-skirt adding somehow to the appeal… just the thought of what was under that… he shook his head, Koiko was a girl, not a boy. What was wrong with him?

Because—last he checked—a girl did not have any part of the male anatomy.

Koiko dusted her hands on the side and back of her skirt, drawing Atobe's eyes even more so the blonde's ass. He found it a little… cute somehow. He blinked and looked away, halting the oncoming blush in its tracks. Was it even possible to find a butt cute, and what were with the thoughts of imagining Koiko as a boy? Although, he was sure—that if Koiko _was _a boy—she'd probably be the most perfect thing he'd ever laid eyes on.

But he figured—if she were a boy—she wouldn't be "she" any longer… Well then, _he _would be the most perfect thing he'd ever laid eyes on.

As he watched the girl serve with her back to him, he let his eyes trail back down to her ass. Tilting her head to the side, he found himself wishing that she had warn a shorter skirt, but he would take what he got, and—besides—he didn't want anyone else eyeing her up.

He twitched at the thought. Who would even dare to eye up _his _Koiko? Yes, that's right, _his _Koiko, because Koiko had officially become his. Atobe wasn't sure yet if he would go for what his parents wanted, or for what he wanted, but he knew that either way, this girl would always be _his _and no one else's, even if that was a selfish desire.

But he was Atobe Keigo; he was allowed to be selfish, wasn't he?

Before he knew it—he hadn't really been paying attention so much to the match as to Koiko—the match had been ended, with 6 games to Love, Koiko utterly defeating the girl and everybody who knew at least a little bit about tennis—him and An and perhaps some of his staff—could tell that Koiko had not been anywhere near completely serious while playing, and Atobe wondered what type of person it would take to get her excited.

Ehh… he meant get her serious.

Smiling slightly, Atobe stood and walked over to her, noticing how her eyes brightened and she stood a bit straighter when she noticed him walking over to her. "Congratulations, Koiko. Ore-sama was curious as to know how good of a player you are, but ore-sama does not think that ore-sama saw your complete strength just yet. Ore-sama looks forward to finding out." Koiko blushed and gave a small nod in understanding before Atobe continued on. "With that said, you are the winner of the one-on-one date with ore-sama. We will be going tomorrow and ore-sama believes you will have fun."

"Aa," Koiko grinned. "I'm sure that I'll have fun with you as well, Atobe-kun!"


	9. The Second Date

_Sorry for the long wait, I'm having trouble writing fanfiction lately, probably bad writer's block which I'm surprised I hadn't gotten before with how much I've been writing. I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, I have maybe a bit more than half finished, but I can't do much extensive writing because I just got back from the hospital yesterday (I'm fine, nothing life threatening) and they had to take blood from wrist and now it's all bruised, so it hurts to type a lot (it once took two hours to find a vein, I'm a tough one, at least I don't throw a big deal about it, I'm used to it ---was a sick little kid T_T)_

_Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter, I think it's kinda cute. Please review! It might make me feel better ;P_

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**Chapter Nine- The Second Date**

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"Oooh! Sugoi!" Jirou blinked as he eyed all of the people around the courts. He frowned at some of the taller kids; it was no fair that they were so much younger and taller than him and yet he wasn't even 167 cm (about 5 ft 6 in)!

He heard Atobe give a small chuckle and looked over curiously at him only to see Atobe give a small shake of the head as he assured him it was nothing, before he was led over to courts, watching as people came and went. It seemed as if the match had yet to begun, though Jirou didn't know which school was playing.

Normally, this type of thing would make him bored (unless they were absolutely sugoi like Marui-kun!), but this time, he was with Atobe and felt almost incapable of sleeping, unless he was—of course—with his head laid down on Atobe's shoulder, or better yet—in his lap. Jirou smiled, he would bet that Atobe's lap would be very comfortable.

He wondered if he could maybe test that someday.

As a man eyed him somewhat predatorily, Jirou warily stepped closer to Atobe, unconsciously clutching onto the man's arm. Atobe—upon noticing the grip around his arm—looked up and sent a glare to the man eyeing Jirou up which he outwardly thanked Atobe for, but he still decided that he wasn't going to let go of the other man's arm, just in case. But of course, that was only just an excuse.

"Ne, Atobe-kun, who's playing?" he asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly, peering around at all of the uniforms.

"Hyoutei of course, ore-sama must make sure that they are up to par, ne?" not minding the stares that they were sure to get (as people were beginning to recognize him and point fingers in confusion at Jirou—or rather—Koiko), Atobe took Jirou's hand and he blushed, turning a bright crimson as he was led off to a bench placed under a tree. They sat and Jirou snuggled slightly into his side, blushing even more when Atobe stared down at him.

"And they are playing against Seigaku," Atobe laughed. "That does bring back memories." Jirou giggled and replied, "Didn't you lose against Seigaku? Twice?"

Atobe gave a small, playful huff—which surprised even himself—and told him, "Ore-sama will have you know that ore-sama beat Tezuka, even if ore-sama lost against that brat." Atobe said with narrowed eyes, still not over having had to shave off his hair.

Jirou laughed, shoulders shaking slightly. "Atobe-kun, you know that wasn't what I was talking about but I'll let you believe that it was."

"Good, because ore-sama will hear nothing else on the subject of losing," but he said this with a small smile. "Especially against Seigaku," he added and Jirou grinned, only to move away when he saw the camera pointed towards them. Atobe glanced over before looking at Jirou and tugging him back to him, causing the boy to stare up at him in slight shock. "Ore-sama doesn't see why you can't sit close to ore-sama just because of a camera."

"I didn't think you'd…" Jirou trailed, blushing with a small smile as Atobe held onto his hand. It was warm out that afternoon, but he didn't find sitting so close to the younger man in any way uncomfortable. In fact, the extra warmth was welcomed and he buried his head in the silver-haired man's shoulder, unsuccessfully hiding the pink on his cheeks.

Atobe chuckled and tilted the blonde's head up, staring at the wide, doe-like, brown eyes before he leant down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Jirou let out a shaky breath when he pulled back as his stomach squirmed, butterflies flapping freely in his stomach. But really, Jirou thought that they were much bigger then butterflies, probably something more like some type of wonderful, tropical bird.

Those birds were pretty.

"Uh," he averted his eyes. "I don't think I caught that, can you say it again?" He smiled, a little shyly at Atobe who let out a laugh and threaded a hand through Jirou's blonde hair, pulling his head closer so that their lips would meet.

Jirou didn't mind that they were in public somehow, he forgot all about the camera and the people that were sure to be watching. For a moment he forgot that Atobe thought he was a girl; that Atobe liked him even though he was a boy, and Jirou moaned quietly mouth opening to let in Atobe's tongue. The wet muscle moved against his own as they playfully fought inside of both of their mouths, Jirou trying to press himself as close to the heir as would be permitted in public.

When Atobe pulled back, Jirou panted for breath, somehow having forgotten that human need for oxygen. But it was worth it, and would be worth it to be panting again if only he could… he blushed as that thought sent less than innocent thoughts spiraling through his mind. How those thoughts would be wonderful but… they were completely impossible, that was for sure.

Atobe thought he was a girl, so if—when—he found out that he was actually a _boy_—which is not a girl, mind you—how would he react? He'd probably find it disgusting how he had made out more than once with him, probably tell him to leave and that he never wanted to see him again… tears sprung to his eyes at that thought. It _was _just a thought but it hurt, a lot, somehow.

Just the fact that he wouldn't be able to see… his Kei-chan again because his Kei-chan wouldn't want him when he found out that he was a boy. Why did gender have to matter so much?

"Koiko, are you okay?" Jirou looked over, hating how it was _that _name Atobe used so easily. It sounded wrong to his ears, he wanted someone—Atobe—to use _his _name which was not Koiko, but Jirou. He wanted that name to fall from Atobe's lips, to be used so nicely but the person he _really_… liked?

"Eh?" he felt something wet slide down his cheek and brought up a hand, wiping away—to his horror and curiosity—a tear. He nodded and forced a smile, "I'm fine, I just… thought of something sad."

"Oh," he watched as a small smile came over Atobe's face and frowned. What did he find funny in that? It wasn't funny at all! "Ore-sama thought for a moment there that he was losing his touch, but that is impossible seeing as ore-sama is ore-sama."

Jirou blinked and then grinned, laughing slightly. "No, you're definitely not losing you're touch. I'd tell you if you were." He gave a small wink and it was Atobe's turn to chuckle.

"Glad you found that amusing; it got you to smile." He explained. "You're smile is a rather… pretty one," he told him quietly and Jirou blushed even more, taking in a large breath and looking in front of him, swaying slightly where he sat.

"Oh," he bit his lip and looked shyly at Atobe. "Anou… arigatou, I rather like your smile as well, your real smile and not your smirk, though I do like that also." He giggled when he got that "real smile".

Atobe scratched at the back of his neck, fighting to keep red from his own cheeks. "You're going to make ore-sama blush," he admitted for some reason unbeknownst to himself.

"Hehe! I'll take that as a compliment! I'm sure not many people have gotten an Atobe to blush before," Jirou exclaimed, putting his face right up to Atobe's who stared down at him before once again kissing him, still staring into brown eyes. "And I don't think many have gotten you to kiss them before…" Jirou had meant it as a thought, but had instead stated it out loud, and looked down at the bench, embarrassed.

"Correct," Atobe whispered in his ear, softly kissing her cheek before pulling away and sitting up in the bench, clearing his throat.

"Eh? Ji—ow!—Jirou's sister?" Jirou looked over and paled when he saw Gakuto and Oshitari five or ten feet to the right of them.

"Gaku-chan…" he whispered before saying louder, "Mukahi-kun!" Gakuto twitched slightly at the sound of his surname coming from Jirou but otherwise didn't have much more of a reaction. "Hi," he waved, biting his lip.

"Mukahi, Oshitari," Atobe nodded. "It is nice to see the two of you again. What are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing, Atobe," Oshitari stated, closing the book—Atobe wanted to roll his eyes, that was so Oshitari—that he had been reading. "We—Gakuto and I—always come to cheer on Hyoutei."

"Ah, so the two of you are still friends?"

"More than friends!" Gakuto exclaimed as he took Oshitari's hand and held it up, hugging him around the waist.

"Right, should've known. That's good for you, ore-sama is glad for the two of you," he said truthfully, casting them a small smile. Jirou felt like smiling himself, so Atobe wasn't homophobic? That was good, at least.

"So you and Koiko-san? What are the two of you doing here?" Oshitari questioned, shooting a glance at Jirou who averted his eyes innocently and kicked his feet into the air a bit.

"Ore-sama is on a date, is it not obvious?" he asked gesturing to how close they were sitting so that their legs were nearly touching and Atobe's hand was lain atop of Jirou's.

"Atobe's dating a girl?" Gakuto laughed. "I had been sure you were gay!" Jirou cast him an odd glance as Atobe's hand tightened over his fingers. Did Gakuto really believe that, or was he just saying it? Because—if he had believed that, then what made him think that pretending to be a _girl _and make Atobe fall in love and then reveal himself as a _boy _and embarrass him, would work?

"Ore-sama does not believe that it is any of your business whom ore-sama decides to date," he stated, not letting go of Jirou's hand who giggled nervously and cast his two friends pointed looks—not completely sure if they wouldn't give anything away (or at least Gakuto) even if it _had _been Gakuto's idea.

"Now, now, Atobe, let's be nice, you too Gakuto," he petted Gakuto's head and the acrobat pouted, turning away, but Jirou could see the secret dazed look in his eyes that signaled he was getting ready to lean against Oshitari, wanting to be petted even more. "Gakuto," Oshitari continued, taking his boyfriend's hand. "I think I see Shishido, let's go say high," the bespectacled man pulled the redhead with him and Jirou could swear that he heard Gakuto asking, "Yuushi, weren't they kissing?" before they disappeared from sight.

With a small smile, Atobe returned to talking quietly to Jirou, but all Jirou was able to do was nod and smile back, eyes being drawn back to the heir's lips every few seconds now that his mind had been reminded of their earlier kissing.

Atobe was such a good kisser, and he was probably not so good, but he hadn't seemed to mind, and that made Jirou incredibly happy. It was nice to know that your first time kissing wasn't a _complete _fail. Well, technically it wasn't his _first time _kissing, but Atobe _was _the first person he had ever kissed. So, he figured, that had to count for something.

Soon, the matches started and Jirou was watching along with Atobe. It was amazing how big the tennis club was and how many people were in the cheering squad since they couldn't play, (Atobe—of course—stated and pointed out how it was _nothing _compared to when _he _was captain, but Jirou had seen some of the displays Hyoutei had done when Atobe was captain and he had to agree with that) and they were also rather good at tennis (again—another comment here made by Atobe).

Seigaku had won Doubles 2 easily (which made Atobe twitch), while Hyoutei repaid in kind by creaming them in Doubles 1. Singles 3 was taken with a little more of a fight by Seigaku while Hyoutei took Singles 2, a fight still harder yet. Finally it came time for Singles 1, which was what they all had been waiting for.

Singles 1 was definitely the most difficult match that had been played—captain versus captain—it was to be expected. And Atobe was glad to see that Hyoutei's captain was tough, not as tough as he had been, but tougher then some. In the end, Hyoutei one 3-2, both would be going onto the Nationals, but Hyoutei had finally beaten Seigaku, something which Atobe was immensely glad for, not that he let it show.

He gave captain a nod when they met eye contact, and the present captain—upon recognizing him—straightened up and gave a bow, beaming at being recognized by the greatest captain and student council president that Hyoutei Gakuen had had since the very beginning of the school.

Jirou smiled up at Atobe as they stood, clutching onto the heir's arm. "Would you like to come eat with ore-sama?" Atobe questioned and Jirou just stood there, blinking for a moment before nodding, "Hai, arigatou, Atobe-kun," he beamed, eyes closing and smiling with him, and Atobe couldn't help but give "her" a small pat on the head for the cuteness she was presenting him with.

Atobe slid into the car first before holding out a hand to Jirou, helping him in. As Jirou went step into the limo, he tripped over the step, sending him flying into Atobe's arms, the both of them sprawling onto the leather seats.

There was a moment of silence before, "Gomen! Gomen, Atobe-kun! Gomen!" Atobe could swear that he heard chuckling coming from his driver before the door was shut. "Its fine," Atobe responded truthfully, slowly sitting up as Jirou did.

When they were sitting up in the seats, they noticed something rather… odd. Jirou had ended somehow ended up in Atobe's lap. There was another lapse of silence before a blushing Jirou went to move off of his lap, whispering a quiet, "Gomen,"

Against his will, Atobe tightened his grip on the boy's waist, causing the blonde to look down in confusion. "Ore-sama has no problem with you sitting here if you wish," he quickly explained, not being able to help how he averted his eyes slightly so that he was looking at Jirou's forehead instead of his wide, brown eyes.

"U-uh, hai," he stuttered, voice squeaking so that it actually _did _sound a bit more girlish than he had already been making it. He began to shift slightly before remembering that it was a _bad _idea to do on a guy's lap, especially when they had been kissing said guy not that long before.

When Jirou heard a sharp intake of breath from Atobe, he closed his eyes and swallowed tightly. He squeaked again when the limo hit a small bump, causing him to bounce a little on the heir's lap and his eyes widened before Jirou squeezed them shut again. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, they needed to go away. Think gross thoughts; Oshitari and Gakuto having sex in public (his nose scrunched up), _having _sex with either Oshitari and/or Gakuto in public (he grimaced lightly), his brother and his girlfriend, ewww, a _female_.

Yucky thoughts, no, gross, he didn't want to think about a female naked! They had… and they didn't have… and they were! Just, no, he much rather preferred to think of Atobe naked. Yes, that was such a nice thought.

He froze. No, it was _not _a nice thought! Bad thought, bad thought! Bad thought needed to go away and leave him alone! Jirou kept his eyes tightly clenched shut. What were with all the bad thoughts? Of course he had had _thoughts _before, but he had been able to control himself a lot better than now, but—of course—it didn't help when he was sitting in the person he was… lusting (really?) after's lap.

There was another bounce and sharp intake of breath and Jirou's eyes snapped open, widening as he thought _wait… was that…? _He squeaked and slipped off of Atobe's lap and onto the floor, legs spread slightly and he was suddenly glad that he had worn loose jeans instead of tight ones or a skirt.

"Are you okay, Koiko?" he heard Atobe's worried voice ask and Jirou gave a jerky nod. "H-hai! Ne, that last bounce," he held his legs to his chest. "It just threw me a bit off balance there for a moment. I'm all goods though!" Jirou beamed and Atobe gave a small laugh, helping him up to sit _beside _Atobe instead of on him this time—which made Jirou a little sad… not that he would admit it out loud or anything though.

"Ore-sama is glad that you are 'all goods' as you put it," he said in amusement and Jirou smiled. Some people thought he worded things the way he did, because he thought it made him cute, but it just usually came out that way.

Without thinking, Jirou yawned and scooted down on the leather seat, laying his head down in Atobe's lap, smiling up at the younger man. "Wake me when we get there?"

Atobe stared at him for a second and Jirou smiled again, before closing his eyes and letting him fall into sleep, his last thought being, _Kei-chan's lap really _is _very comfy._

_

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_

Even when he was using all of his power _not _to, he still lost to the urge to run his fingers through Koiko's soft, blonde hair. It was beginning to curl again, and he wanted to ask her why she kept straightening it. Yes, she looked good with straight hair, but the wild and crazy curls seemed to suite her bubbly personality more. Either way, the girl's hair was incredibly soft, and he didn't think he'd ever get enough of just running his fingers over it, petting the girl's head softly.

He had been unable to help himself when he had had her on his lap. The cute blush had only added to how much he wanted her to stay there. It had been torturous for him indeed, to try and control himself from just attacking the girl, kissing her hungrily and probably even likely going further than that, a thought he had _thought _would never cross his mind about a _female._

But it had, and—if it was her—he could put up with her having female parts instead of male parts (although they would be sorely missed). There was just something about this girl that he couldn't get enough of, and every time he saw her, or heard her, he just wanted more _of _her, and he promised himself that'd he'd have her one way or the other… as long as Koiko was willing of course.

After they had eaten and were returning to the Atobe Manor, Atobe interrupted Koiko's excited chatter by asking, "Koiko, ore-sama if you would mind playing a match against ore-sama,"

There was silence. "Eh?" she blinked, hands placed on her knees as she stared up at him. "Play a match with me?" she pointed to herself and Atobe nodded. Koiko blushed and stammered lightly, "I'm sure you wouldn't have that much fun playing me even though it'd be completely SUGOI to play with you because you're an awesome player, but I don't think it'd be as sugoi to play against me." She shook her head, blonde hair flapping around her face.

"Ore-sama is sure that it would be fun to play against you and that is why ore-sama asks. So, will you?" Atobe asked again and Koiko stared at him before nodding. "Aa! I'd be crazy to pass up the chance to get to play against you!" she smiled.

Atobe chuckled. "Ore-sama is sure that we will have many chances to play each other in the future if everything works out well," as he said that, the door was opened and Atobe stepped out of the car, holding out a hand to the shocked looking Koiko to help her out as well.

The two of them quickly entered the manor and went their separate ways to change and to gather their equipment, the girls looking on in confusion as to what was going on. When the saw Koiko exit her room with her tennis outfit on and bag in hand, they decided to follow, coming to the likely conclusion that Atobe and Koiko would be playing a match, seeing as Atobe had also appeared in a tennis uniform.

Koiko ended up getting the first serve, and to the audience watching, she was a lot more excited then she had been while playing them, which made sense just by the fact that they sucked and Atobe… he was amazing.

They knew nothing about tennis and they could still tell, every time Atobe would bring his hand up to his face, they'd swoon, as well as when he would return a lob, his shirt rising up to expose his chest. Even Koiko looked a bit distracted by it all.

But Koiko got her revenge when she volleyed, slipping onto the ground with a proud smile on her face, legs a bit parted underneath her. Atobe stared before turning a very light pink and looking away as the ball was returned, earning Koiko a point.

He looked over to see her standing and dusting off her hands on her skirt. She cast him a small wink before picking up her racket and swinging it as she walked back over to the starting position, waiting for him to serve.

Some of the girls glared over at Koiko for that. That had to be cheating, right? Though the smarter ones knew that she really had done nothing wrong; that had been Atobe and his mind wandering.

And his mind had definitely wandered, just the image of her legs spread over the court… although he had imagined her as a male once again, and he couldn't fathom the reason as to why he kept doing it, if there was a reason at all. Koiko was a girl, of course, not a boy.

Although, there was one thing all of the girls had to admit, she hadn't just been saying that she could play tennis to get into Atobe's good books, because Koiko definitely _could _play tennis, and—as far as they knew—she could play very well.

And this definitely made them angry. Was there anything about this person that Atobe _wouldn't _like?

But as Atobe jumped into the air to perform his final shot, Koiko bit her lip and concentrated hard, knowing what was coming. "Hametsu e no Rondo!"

_I can do this, I can do this, _was what was spelled on Koiko's face as the tennis ball shot towards her racket. She flicked her wrist and slipped onto the ground, beaming as she successfully returned the shot. Atobe's eyebrows raised and he smashed the ball, ending the game 6 games to Love.

Koiko bounced to her feet and ran over to Atobe, brown eyes shining in excitement. "Ne, Atobe-kun! I returned your shot! Sugoi!" most of the girls looked at each other, not at all understanding what had just happened, only An was staring, understanding what Koiko had just done, and was blinking in slight shock.

"Sugoi! I can't believe I returned it! That's such a powerful smash! I had seen you use it before but to actually try and return it! It's a lot more difficult than it looks but I did it! SUGOI!!" Koiko exclaimed, bouncing up and down in front of Atobe who was unable to keep a smile off of his face as he complimented her on her serve and volley. She blushed. "Arigatou, but you were so much more sugoi!"

"Koiko, why don't we head inside? It's going to be getting dark soon," he pointed out and Koiko nodded, another light blush on her cheeks. "Ne, Atobe, we should do that again sometime, like you said. That was _lots _of fun!"

Atobe was—thankfully—able to keep himself from saying that he knew something that would be even _more _fun that they could do together.


End file.
